Pakistan aim to fix batting woes against Worcestershire
The beleaguered batsmen from Pakistan are hoping against hope to address their embarrassing slump which saw them record to back-to-back lowest totals against England in the first two tests. Only due to the herculean effort of Pakistan’s lower order and tail-end batsmen did the team succeed in avoiding complete embarrassment in the other two innings that they have played in the Trent Bridge and Edgbaston tests.
The third test is set to start at the Oval on the 18th of this month, and before the match Pakistan is set to play a two day practice match against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Worcestershire-c866 from today.
The match will be interesting for the visiting batsmen who are down on confidence. The visitors are also expected to field the duo of Mohammad Yousuf and Yasir Hameed.
Yousuf will be the centre of attention as he aims to make a comeback in the playing eleven for the Oval test after arriving only a day before the Edgbaston test to reinforce the wafer thin batting resources.
The bearded batsman, regarded as one of the greatest batting talents to have emerged from the land of the pure has an outstanding record against England. Yousuf averages a phenomenal 70 runs per innings against them.
However, he has stayed away from cricket after announcing his retirement earlier in the year when he was suspended by Pakistan Cricket Board for his alleged bad influence on the team during their disastrous tour of Australia. This was where Pakistan endured an unprecedented whitewash in both test and the shorter formats besides losing the one-off T20 match on the tour.
Yousuf was the captain of the team and many feel that his lacklustre captaincy led the team down in Australia.
Finally he mended fences with the governing body of the game in the country and has embarked upon a tough mission of resurrecting a test career that once promised the sky after an astonishing year in 2006 when Yousuf stroked 12 test hundreds to break the record set by West Indian legend Vivian Richards.
The Pakistani fans are also hopeful that the other Y in the team, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 that ended in a 1-1 draw.
If the two experienced batsmen show some form at Worcester, they will be selected for the last two matches of what is proving to be a long summer for Pakistan.
The duo is set to replace Umar Amin and Shoaib Malik, who in a total of 14 innings together, have failed to cross the fifty run mark even once.
The left handed Umar Amin, touted as one of the brightest batting prospects in the country, has had an unfortunate time in the first four tests of his career. Experts feel that he would be extremely lucky to play another match on the tour, especially in the longest format of the game.
Meanwhile, the match at Worcester is also set to decide the replacement for the injured Umar Gul. The bowler, who tore a hamstring muscle during the second test, is set to undergo a scan on the 18th of this month - the day when the third test starts at the Oval.
There are two fast bowlers who would be vying for Gul’s place at the Oval as the third seamer behind Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif. The duo includes left armer Wahab Riaz who has represented the country in limited overs variety and Tanvir Ahmed who was the highest wicket taker in first class competition in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 in the recently concluded season.
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