There is no doubt that this series is very important for both sides. Knowing the recent history, this series is more significant for Pakistan for several reasons. First, the coach, Whatmore, needs to further prove himself that he is the right man for this job, although, the win against SA did help his cause to subside the spotlight in the Paki media. Second, the team would want to find a balanced batting order with a combination of junior and senior players, which has always been the main problem. Lastly, this series might be the last series for few players (Umer Amin, Anwar Ali, Asad Shafiq); Hafeez & Afridi only need an inning of 30-odd runs to retain their places for the following series . Statistically, the Pak team has a better record against SL; and if they can win this series along with finding a right balance in the batting order, this will be a great boost in preparation for the next World Cup.
I don’t really want to talk about who should or shouldn’t be selected because that is solely on journalist Najam Sethi and not even Imran khan can comment on that #Politics
But, from whatever is available, here is my batting lineup for the first ODI:
- Sharjeel Khan
- Ahmed Shehzad
- M. Hafeez
- Sohaib Maqsood
- Misbah-ul-Haq
- Umar Akmal
- Haris Sohail
- S. Afridi
- S. Tanvir
- S. Ajmal
- Junaid khan
*Yes, Hafeez is my 5th bowler
Adnan Naseem: excellent 11, I like the idea of bringing an extra specialist batsman as we continuously struggle in batting department !! I wish Umer Gul was fit n he could play in place of Tanvir !!
ReplyDeleteSaroosh Nadeem Raheel yaar not fair to leave Anwar Ali and Bilawal out as both of them performed excellent in South Africa ODI series. We are better off leaving tanivir for Anwar Ali and play Bilawal Instead of Sohail tanveer. Haaris Sohail is a solid 1 or 2 down player he will be wasted at # 7
ReplyDeleteAziz Savul: I'd second that, Bhatti in for Haaris.
ReplyDeleteAdeel Khan: yes, i would drop Harris for Bhatti too as you would need the sixth bowler
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