By SS
June 15 2003

Pakistan have had a mixed build up to the one day series against England. A narrow victory against Scotland, a defeat against Essex and wins against Northants and Leicestershire. Tuesday provides the first genuine test in the day night sell out clash in Manchester. With the four warm up matches over, attention now turns to the real thing starting at Old Trafford on Tuesday.

The Pakistanis have had 4 good matches in which to become accustomed to the wickets and fortunately the weather has not affected any of the matches either. The quality of the opposition has been of a good standard and unlike the previous tour of England, the counties have played pretty strong teams against Pakistan, with the overseas professionals also being present.

All the touring players have had a decent opportunity to stake their claim in the team and some have grasped their opportunities with both hands, whilst others have disappointed. It was an interesting and shrewd move by the PCB to let Azhar Mahmood continue to play for Surrey whilst the warm up matches were taking place, which thus meant that 12 players were basically getting match practice all the time.

The selectors have obviously decided on an opening partnership of Imran Nazir and Muhammed Hafeez. Imran will be expected to attack the opposition and try to unsettle their line and length, whilst Hafeez will be expected to be more solid. Yasir Hameed has been a real star of this tour so far and has scored runs consistently at the problem number 3 position.

Yousuf Youhana has had a shocking tour and it is only his reputation and past record that will keep him in the starting line up for Thursday. YY is due runs and hopefully it is only a matter of time before he starts middling the ball again. Younis Khan has also been in impressive form on tour and will be expected to provide much needed solidness at the number 5 position.

In my opinion the numbers 6,7 and 8 positions will go to 3 all rounders, Shoaib Malik, Azhar Mahmood and Abdul Razzaq. Playing so many all rounders in a team is a risky move as it basically confirms that a team is playing with only 5 specialist batsman and only 2 front line bowlers, but as Shabbir Ahmed has not excelled on this tour so far and Shoaib Akhtar is banned for the first game, it restricts the bowling options that the Pakistani selectors have. Azhar has been in fine form for Surrey and is an automatic and crucial player in this team, Shoaib Malik has been the most consistent player in recent times and thoroughly deserves an extended run in the team. Abdul Razzaq may have had the kick up the backside that was necessary and has an opportunity to get back in favour with Aamir Sohail and company.

Rashid Latif, Mohamed Sami and Umer Gul make up the rest of the team that I think will start the day nighter at Old Trafford. The men to miss out are Danish Kaneria who I think has not excelled in English conditions, plus Shoaib Malik and Hafeez can both provide the spinning options, Faisal Athar who has not played and is injured, Misbah ul Haq had an opportunity against Leicestershire to cement his place, but failed miserably, Bilal Asad who has not done anything of note in the tour so far. Shabbir Ahmed has also struggled at times and too many extras are something that the team can ill afford.

So, a team relying on a nucleus of all rounders is what is in store. Once again Younis Khan and Yousuf Youhana will be expected to perform against the likes of Gough and Anderson, but expect good things from Yasir Hameed. The lower order may also be crucial if Pakistan are to put up challenging totals. The key word for the bowlers will be discipline. The aggression will come from Mohamed Sami and Shoaib Akhtar will star in the last 2 matches, but the experience of Abdul Razzaq and Azhar Mahmood will also be vital.