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Imran Khan backs Shahid Afridi to lead Pakistan in Test cricket. —File photo by AFP
KARACHI: Pakistan’s limited overs captain Shahid Afridi should return to Test cricket and lead the national team in all three formats of the sport, former captain Imran Khan said.
Afridi pulled out of a Test series against Australia last year in England after losing the first Test at Lord’s as captain.
Since then he has only captained Pakistan in one-day internationals and T20 matches. Senior batsman Misbah-ul-Haq led Pakistan in their last two-Test series against South Africa and New Zealand.
Afridi, who led Pakistan to the semi-finals of the World Cup that ended on Saturday, has made himself available for this month’s tour to the West Indies after previously planning on missing the series.
“There should be just one captain for all three formats of the game,” Imran told reporters at a function held in Lahore to honour Pakistan’s World Cup umpire Aleem Dar.
“The main reason for India winning the World Cup is that their captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni leads them in tests, ODIs and T20 cricket,” the cricketer turned politician said.
Imran, who led Pakistan to their only World Cup title in 1992, said that Dhoni had matured quicker as a captain because he had developed the temperament to handle the different pressures of the three formats.
“Afridi must also be captain in all three formats of the sport. My belief is that unless you captain in Test cricket you can’t really be at the top of your game,” he said.
Afridi withdrew from test cricket after claiming he wanted to spend more time with his family and focus on the limited overs game.
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Comments (62) Closed
Apr 07, 2011 01:49am
So he should unretire again! Good we need more circus acts from Pakistani cricket! What does Imran think of Afrisi's comment about Indian heart? Does that smallness of heart comment apply to millions of Indian muslims also?
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Apr 07, 2011 08:21am
I completely agree as it makes perfect sense and with the performance of Misbah in semi final its like no brainer.
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Apr 07, 2011 11:30am
Imran Khan is totally right. He makes sense when he presents his points. Afridi needs to make come back to side. As it will give Pakistan extra strength. Also playing test will develop Afridi's temperament as player and captain. Also team will be more motivated to perform. Afridi should make a test come back. Misbah is fatal choice to have as captain and player.
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Apr 07, 2011 12:35pm
Agreed. Need Afridi to lead the test team as well. This is very important for Pakistan team. What Imran is suggesting seems to be right and if we observe our team is already looking good. They just need some grooming, experience, and confidence. A good leadership of Afridi in the test Cricket will groom the team and will give Afridi the experience that he needs as a Captain. It's worth trying because this seems to be the best option currently.
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Apr 07, 2011 12:44pm
I dont understand Afridi at times. He is a gifted player and could easily regain his power on batting. However, he seems to think If he starts being a better batsman he looses his form in bowling...why not try for everything!!!! He could be the first player ever of being a greats batsman and a awesome bowler!! And test cricket is the best to learn this at
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Apr 07, 2011 12:48pm
Imran Khan suggestion to make Afridi to lead in three formats of cricket is very much valid and should be considered by PCB. I really do not understand why PCB is still not learning any lessons from the semi-final defeat of Pakistan in the world cup and still insisting on Misbah. With all my due respect, Misbah should retire gracefully and should give way to young cricketer to replace him. I simply have nightmare when I think about his batting in the semi final.
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Apr 07, 2011 01:36pm
When a mentor like the victor IMRAN KHAN says, Just listen to him and do it.
He has a great experience overall & is a very well reputated cricketer... What Dhoni did in Final is simply outstanding & something which can be put forth as an example... Afridi is much mature than ever but looses his tempo & goes berserk...
At the moment he (Afridi) won our hearts... It is better to shower rewards towards him and the team green. Just let these old hogs a rest... bring in the youngsters...
Lets Boom...
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Apr 07, 2011 02:14pm
Only one problem. Afridi doesn't want to play test matches!
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Apr 07, 2011 02:37pm
Lets not get carried away here, Afridi is agreat motivator, he is a dynamic & animated charachter and is good for building unity & confidence within the team. However he is NOT a very good technical captain. In many of the games he he should have nailed the opposition earlier, he never applies pressure at the right time. When you watch England & Australia as soon as few wickets fall they have 3 or 4 fielders pressurising the batsmen, Afridi doesnt even use a slip. Becuase of this Tendulkar got away on many occasions not just the dropped catches. I think Javed Miandad need to work on his batting temprament. Also I think Pakistan need sports psychologist. The south African Team used the Sports Psychologist used by the National Rugby side and we know all other teams use Sports Psychologists. Pakistan tend to panick too much in thier innings. I was at the first test at Lords last year against Australia and we should have won that test, but poor innings from Afridi & Akmal is the reason we lost. I wish Afridi & his boys the best but really if he wants to be a great captain he has a lot of work to do.
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Apr 07, 2011 03:22pm
For once I disagree with the great one.
Afridi is second choice as a captain-because at present Pakistan doesnt have the first choice.
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Apr 07, 2011 03:25pm
With a lot of respect for Imran Khan, where ideally he is correct, the practical picture might be different.
Ever since Imran Khan's departure none of the captains in the Pakistani cricket team has been too powerful and even when it was so, some ugly elements spoiled the intiative brought to the Pakistani cricket by Imran Khan.
Pakistan in my opinion were a pick of world cup teams, performing without much support, and Afridi almost won it for Pakistan. One must realize the amount of utmost pressure that the captain and some other senior players are put through, in such circumstances Afridi glued the team together.
I do not blame him for the semi final loss, the matches for long have been diplomacy stridden.
Finally, Afridi could be re-considering his decision to let off the test captaincy but in my opinionhe is the best judge for the occasion. May Allah help him.
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Apr 07, 2011 03:43pm
I second thoughts that Afridi is just a good motivator and not a good tactical captain. There are numerous examples of him not tightening the screw when it really matters.
Additionally, he wasted a great game changer like Razzaq in the WC. And now, Razzaq is even removed from T20 and ODI. Call me paranoid, but I smell Afridi's hand behind Razzaq ouster. Because Razzaq is the only sensible destroyer capable of taking ower boom boom label. This label is worth a lot, I guess.
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Apr 07, 2011 03:53pm
Afridi cannot even justify his place in the Test team.....much less be appointed as Captain.
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Apr 07, 2011 03:58pm
Afridi has higher batting average in tests then Aamir sohail. He has equal number of test centuries as Aamir Sohail and has more ODI centuries then Aamir as well. Comparing him with the current crop of players again he has higher batting average then any of the top order excluding younis/misbah and on top he is probably the best bowler in Pakistan. Then where is the problem in objecting to Imran's suggestion.
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Apr 07, 2011 04:19pm
I am also surprised to see that Afridi has much higher test batting average than Ramiz Raja and also has 5 test centuries compared to Ramiz's two despite the fact the has only played much fewer test matches.
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Apr 07, 2011 04:20pm
I do not agree with Imran Khan. I think Afridi lacks the basic acumen for captain-ship even in one day matches. He may be a member of a one day team but not captain of even one day team.
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Apr 07, 2011 04:43pm
very well said luqman he just made razak 2 to 5 overs even when he was balling well..The proof in australias match,he was made to ball just 4 overs..He took 2 crucial wkts of clarke and kretza with giving just 8 runs.afridi removed him with gul and later brought himself for bowling and took wickets.in spite of this razak was not given ball as well as he performed well afridi with the bat than but people of our nation doesn't show minute respect to younis,razak
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Apr 07, 2011 05:06pm
I disagree with Imran Khan's Choice. Misbah will be the most succesfull captain in test only. And Afridi will be the most successfull captain in ODI till 2015 world cup. Let afridi focus himself on ODI AND T20 games. He will think that he will not know that how to win the next world cup.
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Apr 07, 2011 05:18pm
Afridi is not capable to lead in tests.It needs patiences which he lacks
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Apr 07, 2011 05:39pm
It is an absurd assertion. If Afridi himself does not think he is test match worthy then why push him into the pressure cooker. Test match is all about true grit. Afridi has never proved he has any. He may be an entertainer, and thus the title BOOM BOOM, but is he reliable. Not in million years. If he fails to lead by example, and the history tells he will, then the result is self evident. I hope the selectors ingnore Imran's claim like they did in the semi final and ignored his endorsement of Shoaib Akhtar and selected Wahab Riaz instead. Riaz performed better than Akhtar has ever performed in spite of his hiped up marketing poster. Lets not invite desaster if we could.
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Apr 07, 2011 05:41pm
I do not agree with Imran Khan.Afridi is great motivator but he is not technician.He lack the quantities of a captain.He is too emotional.Emotional captain will never be a consistent.He also do not read situations.His batting is the example.If he is smart captain he should have taken power play when Umar Akmal and Misbah were at the crease.At that time Indian players were under pressure.
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Apr 07, 2011 05:51pm
For once I have to disagree with Imran Khan. Afridi is 'clueless' on the cricket field as a captain, and plays his cricket selfishly, not for the nation, as the Australians do.
Also, Waqar should be the bowling coach only. He is also clueless as a coach. Being defensive in his nature, Intikhab Alam is well passed the 'Sell By' date.
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Apr 07, 2011 05:59pm
Actually not just Afridi, it is the whole Pakistani team which is impatient. They lack the temperament to stay at the crease. Suddenly out of the blue they will hit a useless shot and throw away their wicket. They must learn from their Indian counterparts like Gambhir, Yuvraj, Dhoni and others who will only get out to an unplayable delivery. Otherwise they become like a wall in front of the three sticks. As the saying goes, 'sabr ka phal meetha hota hai'( fruit of patience is sweeter).
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Apr 07, 2011 06:04pm
I utterly disagree with Imran’s statement. Afridi is not competent and mature enough to captain the test team. As some have already mentioned, test cricket requires patience, good temperament, being decisive on planning and execution of the game, an offensive mindset......which Afridi lacks. However Afridi should play all forms of cricket as he’s a great player in an individual capacity.
It’s so absurd when folks blame Misbah’s semi performance. If it wasn’t for him, our defeat would have been with a great margin. Did Afridi played a captain innings? Or the Akmal’s or the others that scored......10s and 20s?
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Apr 07, 2011 06:22pm
He is not a Good captain..Pak need the cool captain like indian DHONI,
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Apr 07, 2011 06:40pm
It can work. He has the respect of the team mates which is so important in our part of the world. He should focus on bowling only as his batting is unlikely to matter much in test cricket. A bonus suggestion to Afridi would be to let his cricket alone do the talking. :-)
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Apr 07, 2011 07:20pm
Well I agree with one captain for all formats. However if you are making a four year plan till the next world cup,I don't think one can be confident about Afridi being consistent about that ( he can be immature from time to time ). I think in these hard time Afridi, has been the right man.
The only young players who are automatic selections across all three formats are Hafeez, umar Akmal and Wahab Riaz. Pakistan should groom one of these three over the next one year for the job.
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Apr 07, 2011 08:32pm
WOW ... all of the comments, AGAINST Imran Khan's suggestions, you are all back-seat drivers, who can give the best driving directions, as long as they are NOT behind the staring-wheal.
IMRAN KHAN KNOWS THE BEST!
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Apr 07, 2011 08:34pm
i think i agree with imran khan the reason is more the caption in ur team more the politics in our team so lets give him some chance and let see what afradi do and am sure he will do better with his bowling
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Apr 07, 2011 09:07pm
i too totally disagree.
Afridi should concentrate on his batting skills more and he should come top the order and make the middle order more balance.
He should be like Kallis and Gambir.
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Apr 07, 2011 09:12pm
Very much agree with Imran Khan. Afridi is still to play for another 4 to 5 years while Misbah is already old to play another maximum 2 years. Afridi has lot to offer to Pak team. While playing test matches he will improve importantly as a batsman, bowler and as a captain too. Being Part of Test cricket he will be involve more in cricket and this will definitely help.
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Apr 07, 2011 10:13pm
When Dr Dre says you should Rap, then you Rap.
When Imran Khan says you should captain, then you should captain :)
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Apr 07, 2011 10:30pm
I think, Imran Khan has a better understanding of Cricket than those who don't agree with him.
There should be one Captain for all three formats of the game and PCB should back that Captain, no matter what. Unfortunately the best choice available right now is Afridi, so it is better to stick with him.
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Apr 07, 2011 10:49pm
I Agree with Imran Khan suggestion. However, Team Captain should be someone else. Afridi is a good player but not a good Captain
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Apr 07, 2011 11:53pm
Totally agreed. I was wondering through out the WC why Afridi comes to bat before Razzaq and offer his wicket after few balls.
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Apr 08, 2011 12:27am
Imran is right.One team must have one captain.Two different
captains will be very misleading specialy to youngsters joining
the team.
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Apr 08, 2011 12:39am
I 100% agree with Imran khan that Afridi must remain Capt. in all three formats of cricket. Whether T20, ODI or Test, this will make our team a solid capt. that can lead and players perform under his captaincy. Misbah as captain no way and he is not a leader anymore. As a capt. of test is not a good idea. Pak teams needs alot of hard workd and efforts to make a strong team this year.
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Apr 08, 2011 12:43am
Indian strategy is that it made a batting side that is able to target 330 or +300 range from their batsmen. Pak lacks batting side that can't even chase or score upto 300 or +280 range.
This is the area we need to improve.
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Apr 08, 2011 12:53am
1. Afridi does not want to play Test matches, so why force him
2. Afridi does not have patience
3. Afridi does not understand technicalities of the game
4. Just going and banging some balls does not make him a good captain or even a good player
Leave Afridi alone and allow him to Rest. Look for alternatives. Unfortunately there are not many.
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Apr 08, 2011 01:44am
I am agree with Imran khan Afridi return and lead three formats cricket as a captain
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Apr 08, 2011 02:37am
Imran is out of touch with Pakistani cricket. Afridi does not have the temperment for test cricket - either as player or captain. Give Mishbah a chance before playing musical chairs again and toying with the team.
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Apr 08, 2011 04:20am
Imran knows what he is talking about.
It makes sense that there should be one Captain.
We do not have a perfect candidate.
Since Afridi is the best bowler he probably has a place in both formats of the game. Afridi cannot be blamed for the dropped catches or for the painfully slow innings of Younus Khan and Misbah. Afridi has improved and lets hope he will get better. He already has name recognition so that should also count. Most of all I like the way he celebrates regally an X or a Y. This is his trademark. A thing of beauty and elegance of power and physical strength. The future of Pakistan cricket is bright.
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Apr 08, 2011 06:05am
I agree with Imran Khan that there should be one captain for all formats. That particular captain does not have to be Afridi. It is not a good idea to have Afridi as the captain in one format and Misbah in the other one. We definitely need Afridi and Misbah both as players, but we must come up with a younger captain and prepare him for the next world cup.
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Apr 08, 2011 08:02am
Bascially pak team needs a good psychologist who would temper the players properly so that suddenly they dont throw their wicket in a rush of blood...they have to be trained to patient and cool and more focused and little more better in fielding...that is all what is needed..talent is there abundantly..
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Apr 08, 2011 08:06am
Imranbhai, why push a player who is not really interested (or does not feel he can do justice) to Test Cricket, let alone Captainship?
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Apr 08, 2011 08:18am
That's the whole point. If he would captain the test side, he will develop the temperament. Some may be naturally better than others, but without diving into the waters nobody can learn the swimming.
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Apr 08, 2011 08:23am
Those were the different times. in 80's and 90's, an average of 30 used to be considered quite good. Only exceptional batsmen were touching 40. Richard had 47 which Imran regards as the most intimidating batsman ever.
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Apr 08, 2011 09:06am
I completely agree with suggestion by Imran Khan that Afridi Should be remain as captain for pakistan test team as well, it is suggestion on behalf of Afridi impatience, Imran would be thinking about his approach of doing well for Pakistan. and he can be patience while playing test as captain,he will have to spend more time to hold on his patience, that is difficult at this time but by the time he can be calm , as that is saying , practice makes man perfect.
but one should not spend on those whose sincerity is doughty.
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Apr 08, 2011 10:15am
But does Afridi ready for Test Captain ROle?
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Apr 08, 2011 10:49am
Imran khan is very right if afridi captain in all formats of the game his batting bowling and captaincy will be much improved and i think misbah and younis should announce retirement and let the youngster to come forward
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Apr 08, 2011 11:08am
I think Afridi should be sacked from captaincy and should only be played as a bowler. The way he captained the side against India was despicable. I agree that the team played awesome till that match and Afridi was leading them from the front, but all of that took a nose-dive in the last match. You all would agree that, everyone watching the match was complaining about Misbah's batting and the delaying of power-play. Even a school-boy would've taken the power play at the start of the last 10-overs or so. If Afridi was not taking the power-play, what were Waqar and Aaqib doing at that time? Both are coaches and experienced cricketers, even they were hush about it. To be honest, the captain let us down in the match which clearly showed that he still does not know what to do in a pressure game and if one cannot take the right decisions under pressure he should not be a captain.
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Apr 08, 2011 12:09pm
Afridi is the only captain after imran khan who is not involved in any match fixing scandal or in any other sports corruption neither he has got a bad reputation as a cricket player. I think it makes sense that he should also lead the side in test cricket too. He is good enough bowler to adjust in the longer version of the game. Team should not look into his batting because he can have a place as a leg spinner in the side. He can make a very unsuccessful test side in one of the best test team sides.
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Apr 08, 2011 12:26pm
Well said. Pak cricketers have no patience nor a plan. If it clicks it clicks otherwise...blame the pitch, the crowds , sometimes the media. Afridi is an opertunistic cricketer and not a leader of any standards. No point incomparing him with someone like Dhoni. Even in bowling Afridi's wickets comes if pitch assits and if batsmen can't read his line. If you play him as a medium pacer instaed of as a spin bowler, he can't get you out.
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Apr 08, 2011 03:17pm
If Afridi wants to be a successful captain, he should not make any political comments, express any political views and simply concentrate on team and the game. He should also learn to ignore the media and at the same time should learn how to handle the media. Any loose comment of any nature in front of media and/or TV channels is bound to throw him in deep trouble. Then it will be the game of two step forward and one step backward.
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Apr 08, 2011 03:47pm
I love Afridi.. Boom Boom Baby!!!!!! Shahnawaz@Kashmir(India)
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Apr 08, 2011 03:52pm
I hope your post was in jest! “Afridi is the only captain after imran khan who is not involved in any match fixing scandal or in any other sports corruption neither ….” Well he likes to chew on a ball every now and then in front of 24 camera's zoomed in lol. Afridi is a joke and needs to be removed out of the team to save any more embarrassment to Pakistan.
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Apr 09, 2011 02:59am
Yonus Khan is made for Test captaincy. Misbah for one day format and Afridi for T20 game.
This is the most suitable combination as all three formats need different skills. They should be aligned to the temperament of the concerned captain.
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Apr 10, 2011 11:51am
Dear All,
Don't blame Afridi for nothing done wrong. We love him, Pakistani team really needs him in current situation. Don't try to be blinders, see all the things in the mirror of fact, Long live Afridi and Pakistan. Thanks For Imran Khost to support our hero.
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Apr 11, 2011 03:42am
Right on!
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Apr 11, 2011 02:41pm
Please don't bring Mis Haq, in he is the one responsible for lost.. he did not play One day as one day.. He should not be in a team, I believe Imran nazir or Shoiab malik should be in for one days team and Shoiab malik, Asad, Khalid, Bilal Asad should be given chance, after domestic season.
We need young people, Haq is already very old and now we need team for next Champ trophy, and world cup.
Best regards
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Apr 13, 2011 09:34am
pak is able to do what india can but they lace in proper planning and they need to change the whole system. i think it is the most talented team in the world but the system in which it works is the worst in the world.
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Apr 19, 2011 12:13pm
Imran, dont bring politics in sports and it is utterly wrong to consider Afridi for Test (even he is not capable in the playing eleven!) which needs strong mind set.
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