South Africa nail over-cautious Pakistan
67
BIRMINGHAM: Chris Morris took two wickets on his one-day international debut and Ryan McLaren a career-best four for 19 as South Africa returned to winning ways in the Champions Trophy with a 67-run success over Pakistan at Edgbaston on Monday.
Pakistan, set 235 to win, finished on 167 all out as South Africa made light of the absence of premier fast bowlers Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel in winning with five overs to spare.
McLaren's return, which included a spell of four for five in 11 balls, saw him enjoy fresh success at an Edgbaston ground he'd once helped look after while with Warwickshire 2nd XI.
In 2007, the seamer took a hat-trick at Edgbaston for Kent as they won English county cricket's Twenty20 Cup.
Both Pakistan and South Africa needed to win this day/night fixture after losing their opening Group B matches to the West Indies and India respectively.
But while this victory revived South Africa's chances of a semi-final spot, defeat left Pakistan's hopes hanging by a thread.
Pakistan did well to restrict South Africa to 234 for nine after man-of-the-match Hashim Amla, dropped before he reached double figures, made 81.
But the question was whether Pakistan, who'd been bowled out for just 170 by the West Indies, could make a winning score against a South Africa attack missing Steyn, still to feature in this tournament because of a knee injury, and Morkel, whose Champions Trophy ended after he suffered a leg injury against India.
Pakistan's chase stalled from the outset when Morris, a late call-up to the squad after Morkel was ruled out, produced a new-ball burst of two wickets for 10 runs in 19 balls.
The 26-year-old Highveld Lions seamer, struck with his fifth ball when he knocked over left-hander Imran Farhat's off stump.
Morris, who'd previously played two Twenty20 internationals, then saw Mohammad Hafeez fail to get over the top of a bouncer and hole out to square leg.
By the time McLaren took two wickets in five balls, with the aid of fine catches by Colin Ingram and Faf du Plessis, Pakistan were 134 for six off 39 overs.
But Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq, who made a career-best 96 not out against the West Indies, completed a 69-ball fifty with a straight six off left-arm spinner Robin Peterson.
It was a shot greeted by huge cheers from the overwhelmingly pro-Pakistan 25,000 capacity crowd in Birmingham, which boasts one of the largest Asian populations of any English city.
But the crowd was silenced when Misbah, on 55, pulled a Lonwabo Tsotsobe slower ball to Amla at mid-wicket and the skipper was booed at the post-match presentation ceremony.
McLaren ended the match by bowling Junaid Khan.
Amla was missed on seven when a cut off Mohammad Irfan flew to backward point where Umar Amin dropped the tough chance.
He made Pakistan pay with a typically stylish innings before he reverse-swept off-spinner Saeed Ajmal to Hafeez at short third man.
South Africa conclude their group campaign against the West Indies in Cardiff on Friday, with Pakistan facing arch-rivals India at Edgbaston on Saturday.
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Comments (67) Closed
Jun 11, 2013 01:23am
What a sorry and pathet!k show put up by both pak batsmen and even bowlers. I included bowlers here because, not a single bowler got more than 1 wicket and except Irfan, not a single bowler got a maiden ! I still wonder 1) Why Irfan was not given more overs to bowl, 2) Why Malik came ahead to bat, 3) Why batting at such a slow RR (Tuk_Tuk) ?!?!? May be a show of p00r captaincy !!!
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Jun 11, 2013 01:28am
A man on the street with little cricketing knowledge could have selected a better cricket team.
How long they will keep on trying Imran Farhat, son-in-law of an ex-chief selector with close connection the the PCB last chairman Ijaz Butt.
The selectors Umar Amin who has a batting average of less than 10 and a strike rate of 52 runs per hundred ball which he maintained in this match.
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Jun 11, 2013 01:39am
The whole Pakistani team is good for nothing.These lame horses should be thrown out.They keep on disappointing the whole nation and the fans world wide.Bring in young players .They don
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Jun 11, 2013 01:45am
Imran Farhat, Shoaib Malik and Kamran Akmal need to be shown the door.
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Jun 11, 2013 01:46am
Keep playing likes of Imran Farhat, Akmal, Malik etc and keep meeting the same fate. Those who don't learn from their mistakes deserve same fate. Iqbal Qasim should be FIRED immediately so selecting such a pathetic batting line up and ignoring people like Razzak, Younis, Ahmad Shahzad etc.
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Jun 11, 2013 01:45am
We were lucky that Steyn and Morkel were out else we might have been all out by the 20th over. I think Misba's strategy would have worked in a Test match, unfortunately this is an ODI tournament.
Our batting struggled against minnows Ireland and Scotland. We look like a minnow playing real teams in the tournament
Maybe PTI needs to take charge and demand change in the PCB.
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Jun 11, 2013 01:50am
This is no surprise. We can not compete at international level unless sifarshi players like Imran Farhat and Shoaib Malik, who consistently fail to perform are in the team.
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Jun 11, 2013 01:51am
No place for Imran Farhat in the Batting line up frankly, at least Hafeez is a more than decent spinner....Shoaib Malik and Kamran Akmal arfe sitting on the cusp of elimination for any future consideration, don't understand why there is no much inconsistency with Kamran, on any given day he is a great batsmen to watch and yet, every third innings he comes in and plays like a tail ender. He was the most irresponsible of batsmen today, coming in having faced only a few deliveries and decides to square cut a rising ball outside off stump///// he is NOT a debutant and should have realised he needed to STAY IN THERE WITH MISBAH.....NOT SCORE A SIX EVERY 4 DELIVERES. Coaching in Pakistan is tough but frankly speaking, Dav Whatmore is no coach either....he was OK with the Srilankans he was mediocre with Bangladesh and yet Pakistan hired him...for what?
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Jun 11, 2013 01:53am
Poor performance in batting, and bowling. Plus, Kamran Akmal is a disappointment with bat.
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Jun 11, 2013 01:54am
Good for the tournament...a weak team is out !!!
I hope all the conspiracy theorists are now speechless !!!
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Jun 11, 2013 01:58am
lets ask iqbal qasim that on what merit he selected Imran farhat, shoaib malik, umar amin to play international matches. please stop embarrassing yourself and the entire nation. shame on this pathetic batting performance on international level.
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Jun 11, 2013 02:17am
Wapes Aa jao yaar. Ye cricket world cup hai bachoon ka khel nahi Suicidal shot by Wahab Riaz. Ye sudher ne walay khilari nahi hain.
Farishta bhi coaching keray toh bhi ye aisa hi khelenge. disgraceful performance.
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Jun 11, 2013 02:51am
Let's go back a couple of years: we had just played the semifinal of the WC in which we had topped our pool, comprehensively beaten NZ in an ODI series in NZ and WI in WI, had a new talented opener on the horizon in the shape of Ahmed Shahzad who had notched up a couple of centuries in no time, we had a new kid from Khi by the name Asad Shafiq who's batting was a pleasure to the eye and who looked technically solid and we had a perfect number 5 in the shape of Umer Akmal who was progressing very nicely. Two years later, Shahzad is gone from the picture even though he is performing very well on domestic circuit and Mr. Farhat seems to have a tight hold on the top position. Asad played 20/42 games during the last 2 years and still considers himself a new comer. Umer Akmal who just needed more confidence from his captain is watching this CT from somewhere in Lahore and his place is secured by Mr Malik. So a team which was on the up 2 years ago is moving south very fast. I have tremendous respect for Misbah the batsman, but as a captain he has lacked imagination, he has let parchi players into the eleven, hasn't been promoting young batting talent and has curbed the attacking nature of our batsmen. Result: We have no one in the batting line up that Misbah has groomed under him and once he goes we'll have to start over again. We have the talent but that is not playing in UK currently. Poor selection and negative captaincy is what I can attribute our loss to. Having said all, I feel for Misbah who has been the sole torch bearer and the batsmen should have at least gone down fighting.
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Jun 11, 2013 02:58am
It was an easy prediction. Pakistan cannot win these matches. The team comprises of relatives, brother in laws and losers. And it is a disgrace to the country. I keep saying. Why can't we boot out ALL OF THESE LOSERS. WHY CAN'T WE GET THE UNDER 19 TEAM TO PLAY ?. Can the youngsters be worse than these bunch of fools?. I will even promise to keep the brother in law in the team so that he can maximize the zeros, the ones and the twos for the rest of his life. Like country, like Team.
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Jun 11, 2013 03:16am
Pakistan still has a chance to retrieve its honour when it plays against India on Saturday. It must win that matcth come what may.
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Jun 11, 2013 03:26am
I think you forgot the heading Styn-less this time which did when Indian won over SA. That's OK we understand your great reporting ;)
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Jun 11, 2013 05:09am
Overhaul Pls
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Jun 11, 2013 05:23am
Some of those players should retire in shame.
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Jun 11, 2013 05:46am
What you mean over cautious ? Your batsmen have no skills. Pakistan lost to Ireland also in practice matches.
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Jun 11, 2013 05:59am
Although I'm an Indian cricket fan but still it's awful to see team like Pakistan is sinking . We should not forget that the fact what Pakistan had been given to the world cricket like 'reverse swing' and 'doosra' and the legends like Sharfarz , Abdul Kadir ,Imran, Wasim , Wakar , Anwar , Inzi ,Ajmal , Afridi and the 'great' Saqlain Mustaq . But what's going on right now ? Two times all out below 170 , it's flabbergasted ! . I guess this Pakistani team is one dimensional and they should not forget the fact that today world cricket is all about batting and power hitting . The new rules and IPL ( I know u guys don't like it ) changed the game . Only Misbah and Jamshed can't win a every match for them . No proper all-rounder ( Hafeez more a bowler and Malik is useful against India only :P ) , No proper wicket keeper ( Akmal is a s##t) , And weakest opener . I will not going to say this team is missing Afridi or Razzak but the whole batting line up . Buckle up team Pakistan mother of all games is coming # IND vs PAK
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Jun 11, 2013 06:29am
past two previous match paki losses like a amateur team ( like namibia , Bermuda ). It's indicate that paki team player has been match fix
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Jun 11, 2013 06:30am
No point booing Misbah! He is the only solid player in the team and has been constantly let down! Pak batting is abominable!
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Jun 11, 2013 06:39am
I believe selector and manger and captain should be accountable for selection of Shoaib Malik. PK media criticize on performance of Afridi but not on bad performance of Shoaib Malik. Govt should pursue him and also check his tax return.
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Jun 11, 2013 06:44am
*For god sakes please now dump Imran Farhat,Shoeib Malik & Kamran Akmal for good cause you are not going to progress in this tournament as the fate of this team is done and dusted, give chance to the new boys since you have wasted and keep wasting plane tickets to bring these bench warmers.
For once PCB please have the guts to admit on what merit do these selectors keep persisting with these losers but I guess you've been asked this before and if people like Iqbal Qasim are amongst the selectors than the mess-up is quite self explanatory.
In this particular match if you had to drop anybody because of lack of performance you had to go for the removal of Asad Shafiq that was brilliant from Misbah (got to protect his buddies) well now that it for me please don't forget to give your boys the heros WELCOME.*
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Jun 11, 2013 07:26am
Historically Pakistan's batting was always uncertain after Miandad and Zaheer era. No matter who they played against they blew hot and cold.
Now our batting is certain, yes! certain to fail consistently.
Category A players like Younis and Afridi are not even in the team? (not saying they should be) but why they were selected in A category? Umar Akmal was dropped?
Asad Shafiq was dropped after only one failure. Farhat, Hafiz and Shoaib were persisted with after series of failures and below par performances. Pakistan has to revist the whole batting line for each format of the game, but please Shoaib Malik, Farhat do not have a place in any format. Please also find a decent keeper batsmen. Akmals sell by date is gone.
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Jun 11, 2013 07:50am
LOL
NO COMMENTS FROM ANYONE.
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Jun 11, 2013 07:55am
Historically Pakistan's batting was always uncertain after Miandad and Zaheer era. No matter who they played against they blew hot and cold. Now our batting is certain, yes! certain to fail consistently. Category A players like Younis and Afridi are not even in the team? (not saying they should be) but why they were selected in A category? Umar Akmal was dropped? Asad Shafiq was dropped after only one failure. Farhat, Hafiz and Shoaib were persisted with after series of failures and below par performances. Pakistan has to revisit the whole batting line for each format of the game, but please Shoaib Malik, Farhat do not have a place in any format. Please also find a decent keeper batsmen. Akmals sell by date is gone.
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Jun 11, 2013 08:02am
As an Indian ,Pakistan stressed too much on bowling .They could have taken a good batsman instead of Shoib malik .You cannot try freshers or new talents in a international tournament like Umar amin.You need to make him play in international series ,test matches ..boost his confidence level and try.The problem with Pakistan ,they stressed too much with bowling and lost all batting.The fact of the matter is English conditions support bowling anyway and a good batting is all required.
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Jun 11, 2013 08:18am
Outplayed by South Africa - no conspiracy theories please. Pakistani batting was planned in way that they would play in themselves, go for partnerships and play 50 overs to get the runs and not play high voltage shots. Well that is the way to go in English conditions. Execution was really bad by the Pakistani side.
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Jun 11, 2013 08:56am
people of pakistan should say thanks to energy crisis in country,because of power cut pakistan people was not able to see stupid innings played by Pakistani players
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Jun 11, 2013 09:05am
Bring in new batters under Misbah! Get rid of oldies! Bowling section in fine,
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Jun 11, 2013 09:17am
There is no surprise when you dropped match winner player Afridi. I don't understand what politics is going on when media criticise Afridi performance. Is it some lobby trying to get rid of him and to bring downfall to Pakistan cricket?.
Afridi is 10 times better than any current players in the team and he can replace any player at any spot. Misbah is lucky to get 96 against West Indies after his catch was dropped three times. He should not deserved to be in the team when he play politics and select player of his choice instead of pure merit.
Afridi is the player who got us World 20 world cup and helped the team to reach final twice. It is him who helped us to reach world cup Semi Final and won so many matches for Pakistan but in contrast Misbah never won any cructial match for Pakistan. Afridi record speak for itself.
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Jun 11, 2013 09:41am
Come back pakistani player to your country after defeating match against My Great Country India and watch the T.V. and learn how to play batting.
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Jun 11, 2013 09:55am
Sometimes you wonder what Imran Farhat or Shoaib Malik have to do to be dropped' the line of the year. ... Shoaib Malik since he has returned to the side in 2010 has failed unprecedented number of times. Yet never fails to get selected or promoted. Umar Amin is not ready for International cricket especially for a crunch game like this. Asad Shafiq should not have been dropped. He did got a 'Duck' last game but he wasn't the only duckling on the Duck farm.
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Jun 11, 2013 10:04am
Sir,
Shame of pak team now must retire and chrange all bad team membes let them rest,if this type team we have then NO NEED to have team.
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Jun 11, 2013 10:31am
If there was no Misbah in this team, the Pakistan team would have been bowled out for less than 100 runs and within 25 overs in both the ODI's. Pathetic batting display by every player except Misbah and Nasir Jamshed.
And for the final time, can someone pls start a petition or something online and everyone can go and sign to show the selectors that they really need to get rid of the 3 sifarashi amigos....Shoaib Malik, Imran Farhat and the entire Akmal clan.
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Jun 11, 2013 10:39am
Why they did not selected Abdul Razzak and why they allowed Imran Farhat,Muhammad Hafeez,Shoiab Malik and why not kamran Akmal in the opening. What about Umar Akmal and Ahmed Shahzad.
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Jun 11, 2013 10:54am
Well Done Pakistan for continuing losses, keep it up and remain number 8 in ICC ratings.
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Jun 11, 2013 11:01am
There was a time when Pakistan was a consistent team. Then came a time when we would say Pakistan is a mercurial team. Like WI it could defeat any team any day and lose to one. Now the WI is progressing towards being consistent and Pakistan is moving downwards. It is a heartache for Pakistanis who love their cricket and cricket lovers all over the world who yearn for a Waqar running in or a Javed with his street- flamboyance.
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Jun 11, 2013 11:34am
It was just 4.70 runs per over, you guys have two batting coaches what the hell is all this really very embarrassing shame shame shame !!
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Jun 11, 2013 11:41am
Inertia at PCB. Only performance based selection can resolve the malaise. Please don't live in the past. Else how can one justify repeated failures like I. Farhat, S. Malik, M. Hafeez, K. Akmal being picked?
Look to the future and groom fresh players. Otherwise the dumb selectors should also be sacked!
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Jun 11, 2013 12:05pm
injury-hit South Africa beat pakistan
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Jun 11, 2013 12:29pm
@Ahmer:
you should forget that you will will
against india.......
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Jun 11, 2013 12:45pm
Guys to be honest its more about por selection than lack of batting talent in Pakistan.
Of course when you keep selecting the like of Farhat, Malik, Akmal etc you will get poor results.
If you just check Presidents Trophy, Quaid e Azam Trpohy and Faysal Bank Trophy (Oneday) stats you will realise that none of the top 5-8 run getters are given a chance.
People like Harris Sohail, Akbar ur Rehman and a few others on that list are scoring heavily yet no chance?
I guess the whole setup is corrupt and Pawwa based hence you dont see deserving guys in the national team.
Dont think talent is the issue.....corruption and pawwa is eating up our society and cricket team....
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Jun 11, 2013 12:53pm
you should forget that you will win against india.....this kind of batting
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Jun 11, 2013 02:07pm
I think we should not look forward to give place to rejected senior cricketers again, because once again they will be becoz victim of strong criticism because of their age and poor performance.
this is the time to groom new talent, we should needed to bring new expressive cricketers.
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Jun 11, 2013 02:19pm
A perfect example of how a defensive leader can turn a naturally aggressive team into an bunch of individuals completely out-of-thoughts. He has brainwashed young minds with his over-defensive approach.He has made every batsment think so much about their shots, that now the batsmen doesnt know what they need to do, either follow Misbah and block everything, or play their natural game, in which they might lose their place in the side.. Lessons could be learned from Ganguly, who turned a defensive unit into one of the most aggressive teams in world cricket today. Misbah, on the other hand, is doing biggest disservice to Cricket Pakistan. The flair and aggression we loved in Pakistan team is disappearing quickly.
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Jun 11, 2013 02:31pm
The PCB should be ashamed of themself of bringing this team to England to embarress us Pakistani's in UK, Why on earth do the PCB keep picking the same players who don't perform in the batting,and why pick Hafeez? he is a bad apple in the team, Hafeez,Farhat,Malik,Akmal and Shafiq should never be picked again for Pakistan,There is a propaganda by the players against Misbah,The coach should look into this and why have a coach who is not doing his job,when he knows the batting is a disgrace why has he not made changes? We have corrupt PCB and corrupt ICC..This ICC Champions Trophy is a fix by the ICC,How can you have Australia,Sri-Lanka,Pakistan and South Africa all playing so bad in their opening games? The ICC are corrupt and so are the PCB.
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Jun 11, 2013 02:38pm
Tum jeeto ya haro magr.........
Hamen tumsy Pyar hy..
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Jun 11, 2013 02:36pm
No surpirses so far: as predicted earlier, the weakest team in the group (Pakistan) will lose all 3 matches.
Players to drop: Imran Farhat; Shoaib Malik; Kamran Akmal; and Wahab Riaz (although Wahab has been ok in this series) - however, we "MUST" stop parchi culture from our cricket.
Players to include and groom: Ahmed Shehzad; Umar Akmal (how I hate him!); Asad Shafiq; Abdur Rehman; Raza Hasan (the Spinner); Babar Zaman; Fawad Alam + Azhar Ali (these 2 for Test Side only); and a specialist Wicket-keeper!
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Jun 11, 2013 02:37pm
@gulshan lodhi:
agreed with u....
Saqib Hameed
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Jun 11, 2013 02:40pm
@gulshan lodhi:
agreed with u....
Saqib Hameed
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Jun 11, 2013 03:17pm
@Johar:
Not retire, should be dropped for good and never given a chance again.
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Jun 11, 2013 03:21pm
I dont understand, Hafeez was playing well as an opener why change it. I think hafeez and kamran akmal should open and nasir jamsheed at 3. Umer amin has a talent but they cannt expect him to come out and start hitting. Umar akmal was the only player who was fearless and could hit the ball as well, but thanks to Misbah defensive approach, he is not playing. Someone needs to take the charge at the beginning, like old days. Bring Imran nazir back and give him as many chances as Imran farhat and Shoaib Malik. Imran and Shoaib cannt be recycled. Throw them in a bin and forget abt them... losers...
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Jun 11, 2013 03:48pm
DROP SHOAIB MALIKK!!
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Jun 11, 2013 03:53pm
DROP SHOAIB MALIK!!
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Jun 11, 2013 04:47pm
i stopped watching Pakistan cricket after the selection of players like Shoaib Malik, Imra Farhat and Akmal, there is panjabi mafia in the team who are not letting the brilliant talent from karachi and khyber pukhtoonkhwa to play.
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Jun 11, 2013 06:04pm
@pratik bhagat:
Ofcourse Pratik!! Shoaib Malik is our(India's) Damaat.. we always treat him nice and get him to score some runs :)
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Jun 11, 2013 10:28pm
Bring back Afridi
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Jun 11, 2013 10:58pm
INDIA chase 233 easily against WI LOL
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Jun 11, 2013 11:40pm
Things were looking fine for Pakistan up until they went into this game. However, there were good chances created by the fielding and bowling which was woefully thrown away by the 'not so naive' top-order batsmen, including Hafeez, Imran, Shoaib and Kamran. Now, it is bye-bye for this team whose enthusiastic spokesman, Saeed Ajmal, had so confidently predicted lifting up the (last) Champions Tropht!!!
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Jun 11, 2013 11:48pm
@KHUSHNOODUL HAQE:
Don't jump to predictions and assumptions. Cricket being the game of 'glorious uncertainties', can produce some wonderful games with weird results. So, hold your breath and wait for the 'final ball to be bowled' before you finger-point at the Pakistan team, which is still capable of playing out its heart on any given day. Just be patient!
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Jun 12, 2013 02:37am
The Cricket Board and Selection Committee should be replaced by honest, professional and dedicated persons. Due to their wrong actions country has suffered a lot of embarrassment and lost its good reputation in cricket and other sports. This is a very serious matter and must be handled accordingly.
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Jun 12, 2013 07:33am
Pakis. team is much weaker than bangladesh,if bangladesh would have played this tournament they would surely have shown some fights !!
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Jun 12, 2013 08:39am
The way you guys tied and struggled against Ireland ,gave the whole trailer before the Champions trophy .The batting line up struggled and you guys should have guessed that there are better bowling line ups than Ireland like SA and WI .And made changes .....
.Anyways it is too late and good bye !!!
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Jun 12, 2013 08:48am
The way Pakistan huffed and puffed against Ireland medicre bowling attack should have brought the team management some senses in improving the batting .
But you guys were just arrogant and pathetic by boasting as favorites to win the trophy ! too late and good bye !!!
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Jun 13, 2013 01:17am
If we ever want to have any hopes for the future for our Paki cricket team, we must hope that pak loses to India. If by some miracle pak beats india, all wrongs will become right and we will keep on seeing faces like shoaib malik, kamran , farhat and all the other parchee folks in the team, and then the whole drama episode will be played in the next tour or next world cup. There is so much talent in Pak, both in batting and bowling, but because of parchee culture, the youngsters are not getting any chances. The only way we are ever going to see talented batsmen in our team and get rid of parchee boys is if we lose big and badly, and there is enough pressure on selection boards to completely refresh the squad.
A talented, brave and fighting pakistani cricket team is much more important than winning this game against india.I would rather see our batsmen show some talent and fight during the game and lose, instead of winning without class.
My 2 humble cents, from an avid Paki cricket fan
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