After facing the embarrassment of being bowled out for 49 and sort of saving face with a relatively much improved performance with the bat in the second innings of the first test, Pakistan will take the field once again to battle South Africa in two days.

It has been a long break since the end of the first test of the series and Pakistan have had plenty of time to regroup, practice, and think about tackling the mighty South Africans.

The 2-day game against an Emerging Cape Cobras XI was a successful one for Pakistan as they completed a 10 wicket win and got some valuable practice as well.

Pakistan will be pleased with Younis Khan getting some runs under his belt and more importantly with him spending some time in the middle. Pakistan continued to bat after reaching their target of 58 to get some batting practice, and Younis made full use of the opportunity by knocking an unbeaten 74 and spending over 2.5 hours at the crease.

In 5 innings on tour, prior to this one, Younis had failed to score more than 15. While Hafeez, Nasir, Misbah, and Shafiq have all been among the runs on this tour, it has been the struggle of Younis and Azhar Ali  that has been a major spot of bother for Pakistan.

With Younis gaining some confidence, it leaves only Azhar Ali who is yet to score more than 15 on this tour. Azhar's 6 innings thus far include scores of 2, 3, 13, 18, 11, and 12.

Azhar Ali has been Pakistan's leading run scorer in test for the past 2.5 years. Even though people believe that he has only scored on dead subcontinental wickets, it is not true as Azhar has scored runs in England, New Zealand, and the West Indies, besides the more batsmen friendly pitches of the UAE, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh.

But he is struggling in South Africa.

Many have suggested that a defensive approach will not work for him in South African conditions, especially against Dale Steyn & Co., because he is bound to get an unplayable delivery at some point, which he will succumb to after consuming many deliveries and scoring very little.

A more aggressive approach is required, but unfortunately Umar Akmal is not around. Perhaps someone like Asad Shafiq, who likes to keep the scoreboard ticking, can be pushed up the order with Azhar batting at number 6.

There have been suggestions to play Faisal Iqbal instead of Azhar Ali, largely because of Faisal's breezy knock of 33 against the Cape Cobras. Faisal was definitely in good touch and looked in control hitting 7 boundaries in his innings. But he hasn't played a test for Pakistan for over 4 years, with his last appearance coming against Australia in January 2010.

There is something to think about for the Pakistan team management, but I don't see them changing the composition of their trusted top 6. What I would do, however, is move Younis Khan up a position and ask him to bat at number 3, where he has batted for the better part of his career.

Younis moving to number 4 was a good strategic decision as it helped groom Azhar Ali as a long term number 3, but in South African conditions, Pakistan will be better off using the experienced Younis at number 3 and keeping Azhar Ali back.

Given Shafiq's current form, I would bat him at 4, followed by Misbah and Azhar.

The bowling has not been a worry for Pakistan, but a selection blunder in the first test cost them heavily. Rahat Ali is at best a mediocre bowler, and his inclusion instead of Mohammad Irfan was inexplicable.

Everyone has been harping on about how Irfan can't bowl long spells, won't last 5 days, and so on. But everyone is also aware of his effectiveness. Or rather, should have been. A 7 footer bowling on South African pitches is a dream for any captain and yet Pakistan decided not to play him on fitness grounds.

Unbelievable.

How many times have we all seen Shoaib Akhtar, Shane Bond, and Brett Lee being used in short bursts of three 4-6 over spells in a day in test matches? Their captains understood their effectiveness and limitations and used them effectively.

The same can be done with Mohammad Irfan. 4-5 overs is all that bowlers of his nature need to make an impact. It is also very easy to hide fielders in a test, so Irfan's energy can be easily protected.

After his performance against the Cape Cobras, it will be criminal to leave him out of the team for the second test starting on Thursday.

I wish there was some way that Rehman could be included in the XI, but it is a luxury to play two spinners in South Africa and impossible to replace Saeed Ajmal. Despite that an attack comprising of Junaid, Irfan, Gul, Ajmal, and Hafeez presents lip licking prospects.

Beating this South African team will be a gargantuan task, but I expect a much improved show from Pakistan and a tougher fight than the one given in the first test.

Series abhi baaki hai mere dost...

My XI for the test: 1. Mohammad Hafeez, 2. Nasir Jamshed, 3. Younis Khan, 4. Asad Shafiq, 5. Misbah Ul Haq, 6. Azhar Ali, 7. Sarfraz Ahmed, 8. Umar Gul, 9. Saeed Ajmal, 10. Junaid Khan, 11. Mohammad Irfan.

I'm not sure how many of you remember the Lombard Challenge from 1996, but those of you who do will remember it as the U-15 cricket world cup that was held in England during the summer of 96. Called the Lombard Challenge U-15 Cup, the competition was contested by 10 teams including all the 9 test playing nations at the time and Canada.

I was in Pakistan for my summer holidays at the time when the tournament was being played and I remember watching all the games Live on Star Sports. It was quite interesting to watch the potential future Pakistan stars competing at a global stage. What made it even more exciting was that the Pakistan team was quite dominant and from what I recall, it won most, if not all, of its matches.

The final of the tournament was played between Pakistan and India, which gave the entire tournament a totally different edge.

I wonder why It has never been held again.

But that is not what I wonder the most about. I really wonder what went wrong during the summer of 96 that none of the players from Pakistan's Lombard Challenge squad that represented Pakistan in international cricket managed to become a permanent feature in the team.

There were 7 players in Pakistan's Lombard Challenge squad that made it to the top level - Faisal Iqbal, Bazid Khan, Shoaib Malik, Hasan Raza, Taufeeq Umar, Yasir Arafat, and Kamran Akmal.

Something must have happened during that summer of 96 that none of these players have lived up to their "potential".

The international careers of Bazid Khan and Hasan Raza seem over. Although with the way the recent selections happened, one can't rule out a comeback for anyone! One can argue that neither of them were given a decent stint with the international team to establish themselves - Bazid played only 1 test and 5 ODIs, while Hasan played 7 tests and 16 ODIs.

Bazid's last ODI innings was a half century against Bangladesh in 2008, so it does seem unfortunate that he wasn't selected again.

Hasan was dropped from the test team in 2002 after scoring fifties in both innings in a test against Australia, only to make a comeback in the series against England in 2005, which wasn't too successful for him. His international appearances are dispersed over a long period and he was never really allowed to settle into the team. Maybe if he was given a proper run he could have translated his domestic success to international cricket as well.

Shoaib Malik and Kamran Akmal had long stints with the international team with both of them being regulars for almost a decade. At present though, one of them is barely hanging on to a place in one format, while the other is completely out of favor.

Shoaib Malik captained Pakistan in all three formats of the game before he was removed following major dressing room politics. He got involved in spats with senior players, never came across as a confident leader, and was regularly accused of being a puppet of then PCB Chairman, Nasim Ashraf. Malik did make it as a successful limited overs batsman and won many ODIs and T20s for Pakistan, but today he is not even a shadow of what he used to be. He was never considered a test player, and now finds himself out of the ODI side as well. He is still part of the Pakistan T20 squad, yet it might be his last few days unless he produces something magical.

Kamran was the preferred wicket keeper for best part of the last 10 years in all forms of the game, however for the last year or so he has been on the sidelines with the PCB trying out various new players behind the stumps. Being constantly embroiled in spot fixing allegations and bad form behind the stumps seem to have ended Kamran's career a lot earlier than he would have liked.

Taufeeq Umar had a very promising start to his test career and forged a strong opening partnership with Imran Farhat during their early days in international cricket. Even though he was averaging above 40 in tests, a string of low scores led to his ouster from the team in 2005. He made a comeback at the end of 2010 against South Africa and since then has been a permanent feature in the test team.

For how long though?

Afaq Raheem, a prolific domestic opener, has just been selected in the test squad, and there have been increasing calls for Azhar Ali to open in place of Taufeeq to fit in another middle order batsman. So it might not be long before Taufeeq finds himself on the sidelines like the rest of his 1996 compatriots.

Faisal Iqbal and Yasir Arafat have just made comebacks to the test and T20 squads respectively.

Faisal, like the rest of his team mates from 1996, had a very promising start to his international career. Always considered a test specialist, he showed his potential with half centuries in his debut series. His real worth came to light in an innings of 80 odd against Australia against an attack that comprised of Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne. The way he took the attack to Warne demonstrated what a great batsman he could have become, before poor scores resulted in his axing.

He made a comeback to the team in 2006 in the series against India after a very successful domestic season and proved the selectors right scoring a century in his first game back in the test in Karachi. He remained a permanent feature in the test team till 2010, before being dropped again after some low scores. Now, two years later, he is back in favor and has made yet another comeback after a successful domestic season.

Why Yasir Arafat is back in the team is beyond my understanding. He has constantly failed for Pakistan and has never been able to translate his domestic or county cricket success to international cricket.

There must be something about that summer of 96 that all the players who made it from that Lombard Challenge squad to representing Pakistan at the international level have still not been able to cement their places in the team. Barring Yasir Arafat, all of them made reasonably sound starts to their international careers, faltered and got sacked at certain points of their career, and made several comebacks. While some of them may have played their last international cricket match, some are still on their comeback trail.

With all of them around the age of 30, some of them have unfortunately faced premature ends to their international careers; while those that are part of the team are still not considered established international cricketers.

No PCB press conference is ever held without some heads turning and shouting WTF!

It all started well with Misbah stepping down from the T20 captaincy, and Zaka Ashraf announcing Mohammad Hafeez as the new captain of Pakistan's T20 team.

Well played by the PCB and Misbah in ensuring that it happened the right way with Misbah "stepping down" and not being pushed out.

I won't deny that I was rooting for Afridi to take over the captaincy once again but I guess the selectors wanted to look ahead at the future. With Hafeez taking over the T20 captaincy, he is also being set up for taking over the leadership in all 3 formats of the game once Misbah moves on. Which will definitely happen in the next year or two at most.

It is up to Hafeez now to demonstrate his leadership potential, which all of us have heard of, and make that role of captain in all three formats his very own going forward.

Till now, all was well and good. But then came the announcements of the three squads.

There were stories going around that the PCB, selectors, and coaching staff were contemplating going for three different teams. And go for different they did.

The only common theme in all three squads is that each squad comprises of 16 players, and only 4 players are present in all 3 squads: Mohammad Hafeez, Saeed Ajmal, Umar Gul, and MOHAMMAD SAMI !!!

Great that he's made a comeback, but man how does one pacer go from being out of favour for so long to being in favour for all 3 formats. Something that only 3 regular international players have managed.

The selectors made a number of changes with some new faces being introduced, several players earning a comeback, and a few being dropped. Its a bit of a khichdi really, a total hotch potch.

I don't mean to undermine the PCB selectors. I'm sure it was hard work, and I'm sure that long hours were spent discussing the composition of the T20, ODI, and Test squads. But I really don't remember the last time when so many players made a comeback to the team at the same time!

T20 SQUAD
Retained: Mohammad Hafeez, Shahid Afridi, Umar Akmal, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Shoaib Malik, Hammad Azam
Dropped: Misbah Ul Haq, Awais Zia, Wahab Riaz, Asad Shafiq, Abdur Rehman, Aizaz Cheema, Adnan Akmal, Imran Farhat, Junaid Khan
Comebacks: Khalid Latif, Ahmed Shehzad, Yasir Arafat, Sohail Tanvir, Mohammad Sami, Nasir Jamshed
New Faces: Shakeel Ansar, Raza Hasan, Haris Sohail

This is what is called a major overhaul!

As many as 9 players have been dropped from the T20 squad that took on England. Not only is there a new captain, there are 3 new faces, and as many as 6 players making a comeback to Pakistan's T20 team.

Shoaib Malik's retention upsets me considering how he has continuously failed at the international level. But to be fair, he did seem to come back to form near the end of the T20 series against England, and he performed reasonably well in the Faysal Bank Super Eight T-20 Cup (FB T20) while leading his Sialkot Stallions to the title.

Out of the 9 players who have been dropped, Awais Zia and Asad Shafiq are questionable. He didn't set the stage on fire in his debut series against England, however he did seem to have good potential. It really doesn't make sense to drop someone after just 1 series.

Besides Khalif Latif, who was the leading run scorer in the FB T20, the other comebacks do not really make sense to me.

I am a big supporter of Ahmed Shehzad and I think he is a future Pakistan opener, however unless the Bangladesh Premier League was part of the selection criteria, there is no basis for Shehzad's return. Other batsmen, namely Imran Nazir, Asad Shafiq, and Shahzaib Hasan scored more runs in the FB T20. Moreover, Imran Nazir and Shahzaib had decent outings in the BPL as well.

Yasir Arafat, Sohail Tanvir, and Mohammad Sami have done nothing of note in domestic T20 competitions to warrant a comeback into the team. Sami was outstanding in the BPL, Tanvir was a star in the South African T20 competition, and Arafat has been a consistent performer in the English county scene; but if foreign competitions are criteria for selection then the selectors need to make that clear.

Despite the comebacks being questionable, the three new faces in the T20 team are all well deserved. Haris Sohail and Shakeel Ansar, both from the Sialkot Stallions were among the top 5 run scorers in the FB T20.

Shakeel has been picked as the wicket keeper, and his century, which was the only one in the FB T20, showed that he can bat. Even though his first class and List A record does not leave much to be desired, his T20 record is impressive. But he is 33 years old so the selectors aren't exactly looking at a future prospect here.

Haris Sohail performed consistently for the Stallions in the FB T20, and has been a solid performer at the domestic level for the last 5 years. He has an exemplary first class record averaging close to 47, while his T20 record, with an average over a 100 is phenomenal. At 23, he is definitely one for the future.

Raza Hasan has been on the fringes of national selection for quite some time now, and the 19 year old left arm spinner is also considered as the long term first choice spinner for Pakistan's ODI and test squads. He has displaced Abdur Rehman in the T20 team and with time he will get promoted to the other formats as well if he puts up impressive performances in international cricket. His call to the national team could not have been better timed with him finishing at the top of the wicket taking tally in the FB T20.

The PCB selectors have picked a young T20 team, obviously keeping the World T20 in mind, however it is largely inexperienced as well.

It will be interesting to see the combination they go in with considering the team has as many as 5 openers in Hafeez, Jamshed, Shehzad, Latif, and Shakeel.

My XI: 1. Ahmed Shehzad 2. Shakeel Ansar 3. Mohammad Hafeez 4. Umar Akmal 5. Haris Sohail 6. Hammad Azam 7. Shahid Afridi 8. Umar Gul 9. Mohammad Sami 10. Saeed Ajmal 11. Raza Hasan

ODI SQUAD
Retained: Misbah-ul Haq, Mohammad Hafeez, Nasir Jamshed, Younis Khan, Umar Akmal, Sarfraz Ahmed, Shahid Afridi, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Abdul Rehman, Asad Shafiq, Aizaz Cheema, Azhar Ali
Dropped: Hammad Azam, Wahab Riaz
Comebacks: Imran Farhat, Mohammad Sami 
New Faces: Rahat Ali

By in large, Pakistan's ODI squad is what it was in the Asia Cup and the series against England prior to that, with just a few changes, which really do not make much sense.

Wahab Riaz has hardly been played by Pakistan in recent times, but he's always been considered as good potential, but suddenly he finds himself out of favour. The person replacing him is Mohammad Sami, who once again did not do much in last season's List A cricket in the domestic scene.

Imran Farhat's inclusion and Hammad Azam's exclusion is completely nonsensical! Farhat was dropped for the Asia Cup on the back of repeated poor performances and yet he comes back for the series against Sri Lanka. On what basis!?

And poor Hammad Azam. Every chance that he has got, he has shown his potential. With Pakistan missing genuine allrounders, Hammad is one player who can be groomed to fill in the gap left open by Abdul Razzaq, and which would be left even more widely open in a few years once Afridi hangs up his boots.

Yet the selectors have gone with an ODI squad without him.

Rahat Ali must have impressed Dave Whatmore and the selectors during the fast bowlers camp that was recently held. He also had an impressive first class season picking up 61 wickets at an average of 19 finishing the season as one of the leading wicket takers.

But that was first class cricket, which should get him place in the test team, not List A cricket!

My XI: 1. Mohammad Hafeez 2. Nasir Jamshed 3. Younis Khan 4. Umar Akmal 5. Misbah Ul Haq 6. Shahid Afridi 7. Sarfraz Ahmed 8. Umar Gul 9. Mohammad Sami 10. Saeed Ajmal 11. Aizaz Cheema


TEST SQUAD
Retained: Misbah-ul Haq, Mohammad Hafeez, Taufeeq Umar, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq, Adnan Akmal, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Abdul Rehman, Junaid Khan, Aizaz Cheema
Dropped: Umar Akmal, Imran Farhat, Mohammad Talha, Wahab Riaz
Comebacks: Faisal Iqbal, Mohammad Sami 
New Faces: Afaq Raheem, Ayub Dogar

With the way Pakistan's test team has performed over the past 18 months, there really was no need for any changes to the test squad, yet the selectors thought otherwise.

But why drop Umar Akmal, who is the future of Pakistan's batting? Sure he has not been part of the starting XI in tests with Asad Shafiq being preferred over him, but Umar's presence in the squad as the reserve batsman is imperative to his development as a player.

Faisal Iqbal makes a comeback based on his recent impressive domestic performance, which was one of his most successful seasons with 1013 runs at an average of 53.3. Faisal's 5 centuries during the past season were second only to Usman Salahuddin's 7, and the last time Faisal came into the Pakistan team on the back of so many centuries, he scored another one against India in Karachi.

However The likes of Fawad Alam (1062 runs ar 64.5), Haris Sohail (1184 runs at 49.33), and Yasir Hameed (1124 runs at 46.8) would be disappointed at being overlooked in favor of Faisal Iqbal.

But the man who would be most disappointed is Usman Salahuddin. With 1401 first class runs, he was the second highest run scorer in the past domestic season, and his average of 77.8 is a good 15 runs more than the next best average during the season. Moreover, no one scored as many first class hundreds as Usman did during the 2011-12 home season.

Yet he finds himself on the sidelines, while Afaq Raheem and Ayub Dogar make the squad for the first time ever.

Afaq Raheem was the the only one who scored more first class runs than Usman did during the past season, with 1420 runs at an average of 54.6, but he also played 6 more innings than Usman did. There is no doubt that Raheem deserves his places in the squad on the back of his domestic performance, but I believe even Usman does.

Considering that Usman is only 21, he should be considered as one for the future, especially over the likes of Ayub Dogar, who despite being the 3rd highest run scorer behing Raheem and Usman, is 32 and not really one that Pakistan can build their test future around.

This is the only format where I think Mohammad Sami deserves to make a comeback. His 56 first class wickets at an average of 16.6 not only resulted in one of his best ever domestic seasons, but also ensured that he was the best experience fast bowler on the domestic circuit during the past one year.

But he doesn't take international wickets! A bowling average of 50 is hardly one to be proud of, but I really hope that Sami can set his record right going forward. This will surely be his last chance.

My XI: 1. Mohammad Hafeez 2. Taufeeq Umar 3. Azhar Ali 4. Younis Khan 5. Misbah Ul Haq 6. Asad Shafiq 7. Adnan Akmal 8. Umar Gul 9. Mohammad Sami 10. Abdur Rehman 11. Saeed Ajmal

Sohail Khan took 6-21 in 9.2 overs including a wicket in each of his first 5 overs to demolish Baluchistan in their 2nd innings on the 2nd day at the National Stadium in Karachi (NSK) in the 3rd set of matches of the Pentangular Trophy.

In what was an extraordinary match between Sindh and Baluchistan, 18 wickets fell on day 1 and another 16 on day 2 as Sindh won the match by 6 wickets before close of play on the second day.

Shahid Afridi, who had just landed from a flight from the US 6 hours earlier, won the toss and sent Baluchistan in on a green top at the NSK - similar to the pitch on which Irfan Pathan took a hatrick in the first over of a test match a couple of years ago.

The Baluchis were bowled out for 187 with Anwar Ali, the star of Pakistan's victorious U-19 WC campaign in 2006, picking up 4-41. Anwar ripped through the heart of Baluchistan's batting as he dismissed 3 middle order batsman in the space of a few deliveries for 1 run during his second spell. He was well supported by Afridi and Danish Kaneria who picked up 2 wickets each.

Sindh failed to capitalize on their bowler's effort and ended day 1 on 131-8. They were then bowled out for 139 on the 2nd morning conceding a 50 run 1st innings lead. Khalid Latif, Khurram Manzoor, Naumanullah, Fawad Alam, Shahid Afridi, Sarfraz Ahmed all failed to get going and it was only Faisal Iqbal who held the innings together with a well made 52.

What was to follow was absolute carnage as Sohail Khan and Anwar Ali bowled 17 overs in tandem and picked up 6-21 and 3-12 to bowl the Baluchis out for 42.

Sindh got to their target of 91 after losing 4 wickets, with Pakistan prospects Khalid, Khurram, Naumanullah, and Fawad failing yet again.

Sohail Khan has been touted as the next best thing in Pakistan bowling throughout this season - he has broken several domestic records in his first first-class season in Pakistan and at 23 seems to be a good bet for the future. If he can remain injury free, could be leading Pakistan's attack along with Mohammad Asif very soon.

Anwar Ali has been considered as a bright prospect for a long time now because of his performances at the U15 and U19 levels, however he had lost his way in the last 2 years playing on dead tracks around Pakistan. He has shown immense potential during the Pentangular Trophy and should also be playing for Pakistan sooner rather than later.