Will Pakistan play Jamshed or Taufeeq or both?
Will Pakistan pick Jamshed or Taufeeq or both? -Photo by AFP
In-form left-handed opener Nasir Jamshed, pacers Mohammad Irfan and Ehsan Adil and Haris Sohail are the fresh inclusions to a Pakistan Test side that is a mix of a few veterans, some tried and tested names making comebacks and several who have cemented their places in the transitional phase that squad recently went through.
With Jamshed’s recent run in India, the temptation to play him will be great but as an opener, the two men he could possibly replace are Taufeeq Umar and Mohammad Hafeez. Hafeez’s ability with the ball gives him an added advantage but Taufeeq has also been consistent ever since making a comeback to the Test side in 2010 after a gap of almost four years.
There is a possibility of Hafeez moving down and taking the gamble of putting Taufeeq behind the stumps, the latter unlikely to happen on such a challenging tour, but clearly Jamshed’s inclusion could give Pakistan some much-needed impetus at the top.
Sarfraz Ahmed will look to cement his place after already having received several chances but Adnan Akmal’s omission comes as a surprise keeping in mind his stable performances.
Irfan and Adil’s addition to the pace attack will excite Pakistan fans and together with Junaid Khan, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman they should give the Pakistan management some selection headaches before the first Tests starts.
HAVE YOUR SAY:
What will your final XI be out of the names below? Do you agree with the squad picked and who do you think has missed out on a deserving spot?
Misbah-ul Haq (capt), Mohammad Hafeez, Azhar Ali, Nasir Jamshed, Asad Shafiq, Younis Khan, Mohammad Irfan, Sarfraz Ahmed, Umar Gul, Junaid Khan, Ehsan Adil, Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman, Haris Sohail, Faisal Iqbal, Taufeeq Umar
I think the side selected seems to be good.My apprehenstion is about the fitness of our fast bowlers. I suggest to include Wahab Riaz because south Africa has a strong batting side. We need experience fast bowler. My choice for wicket keeper is for Anan Akmal. He is scoring in domestic cricket and his keeping behind the stump is also good. I also think that selection of Anwar Ali or Tanveer Ahmed was better in place of Faisal Iqbal.
Hafeez, Nasir, Azhar, Younis, Misbah, Asad, Sarfraz, Umer G, Junaid, Saeed and Irfan.
What ever the team is should be for 3 tests, giving a good run to every one.
Happy to see the Akmal brothers, out of the list-:)
Misbah-ul Haq (capt), Mohammad Hafeez, Azhar Ali, Nasir Jamshed, Asad Shafiq,Umar Gul, Junaid Khan, Ehsan Adil, Saeed Ajmal,Haris Sohail,Sarfraz Ahmed
Test squad looks good, even if the batting looks a bit boring except for Jamshed, but that’s what tests need I guess. No point in including the tried and tested Faisal Iqbal, should have thrown in a young batsman from the domestic circuit. Irfan will be a terror on bouncier pitches, let’s hope he can stand the rigours of the 5-day format.
You should expect that Faisal Iqbal will try hard to remain in the team as long as Javed Miandad has position in the PCB. Asif has been given so many opportunities before but he never liver up to the mark. He should be immediately replace with any other young but deserving candidate.
Why was Adnan Akmal overlooked is strange. Sarfaraz has been preferred over Adnan which is wrong. Adnan is a better keeper and batsman than Sarfaraz. It seems that he is unlucky and has been dropped only because he is an “Akmal”.
I think Pakistan has found a good pair of opening Batsman after a long time and the team should stick with them as good opening relies heavily on the co ordination of the two players as well as their quality.
My test squad and one day squad would have changes as Irfan does not seem fit for tests and Shoaib Malik would be a good option for one day matches. I also feel Misbah is a wonderful captain and has bought the team a lot of success but it is time for him to retire and let the new players take control, not saying he should retire straight away but he should start thinking about it.
My XI:-
1.Nasir Jamshed
2.Mohammad Hafeez
3.Asad Shafiq
4.Younis Khan
5.Misbah Ul Haq
6.Sarfaraz Ahmad
7.Umar Gul
8.Ehsan Adil
9.Saeed Ajmal
10.Abdur Rehman
11.Junaid Khan
I think Ahmad Shehzad deserves a place in the team in all the three formats. he is so talented and also young. He along with Nasir Jamshed can make a good openning pair for future.
1) Hafeez
2) Taufeeq
3) Azhar
4) Younis
5) Misbah
6) Asad / Jamshed
7) Sarfraz / Kamran
8) Gul
9) Rehman / Irfan
10)Ajmal
11) Junaid
I would not leave Hafeez out of the playing 11. Taufeeq Umar made his 200 in batting friendly conditions, which are going to be hard to come by in South Africa. Hafeez certainly has more brains in his batting approach – evident from the way he modified his approach against Bhuvaneshwar Kumar after being bowled out in the first ODI for a duck.
Also, it’s time to try Haris Sohail in place of Asad Shafiq or Younis Khan. We also need to swap Muhammad Irfan with Ehsan Adil as we can’t play Irfan all the time.
My 11:
1. Nasir Jamshed, 2. Muhammad Hafeez, 3. Azhar Ali, 4. Asad Shafiq or Haris Sohail, 5. Younis Khan, 6. Misbah ul Haq, 7. Umar Gul, 8. Saeed Ajmal 9. Abdul Rehman 10. Junaid Khan 11. Muhammad Irfan or Ehsan Adil.
where is the wicket keeper in your list
Playing XI
Nasir Jamshed
Hafeez
Azhar Ali
Younis
Asad Shafiq
Misbah
Sarfaraz
Junaid
Irfan
Ehsan
Saeed Ajmal
I tried to analyse each individual with keeping in mind each individuals strengths as they will be facing the best side in the world in their own backyard.
Since you play the best batsman at one down my choice is to play Nasir Jamshed at number 3 as he is in prime form and it will also give left right combination up the order with Taufeeq and Hafeez. I would prefer Azhar Ali over Asad Shafiq as Azhar can also bowl to give rest to your main bowlers. We have Misbah and Younis down the order to block ends. Sarfaraz is the sole keeper in the side, Umar Gul should be preferred for his experience. Saeed Ajmal no brainer, Junaid Khan good form and Ehsan Adil over Irfan due to fitness reasons. my playing XI will be as follows:
1.Taufeeq Umar
2. Mohammad Hafeez
3. Nasir Jamshed
4. Asad Shafiq
5. Younis Khan
6. Misbah ul Haq
7. Sarfaraz Ahmed
8. Umar Gul
9. Saeed Ajmal
10. Junaid Khan
11. Ehsan Adil
Good Luck and God bless Men in Green and may you bring more laurels to our beloved country