In both innings of the first test, he looked out of sorts, with scores of 3 off 41 deliveries and 6 off 32 deliveries. 

Pakistan fans generally have very short memories. Their daggers were out immediately after Azhar's two sluggish failures, and no one remembered that in Pakistan's last test series, against Australia, he amassed 300 runs in 5 innings, including a solid knock of 185.

"oh but that was scored at home, he does nothing away from home"

Hellooo, who scored a double ton at the MCG? Surely the fans have forgotten that too.

Azhar has been one of Pakistan's most dependable test batters in the past decade. 19 test centuries is no joke, neither are 7,000 test runs. The only Pakistan batters who have got more are the big 4 - Younis Khan, Javed Miandad, Inzamam Ul Haq, and Mohammad Yousuf.

He is not in the same league as the big 4 but his test average is at par with the likes of Misbah, Saeed Anwar, Hanif Mohammad, Saleem Malik, and Zaheer Abbas.

For those who think that he scores only on flat UAE decks need a reminder that Azhar has scored a test century in every country he has played except for New Zealand and South Africa. And he has scored a test ton against all opposition except for South Africa.

Azhar may not be a test great, but he has given his fair share of great test knocks, and totally deserves his place in the side.

What the current and past team managements think of him will forever remain a mystery. Despite being the most prolific first class batter in Pakistan he was kept out of the side for 10 years. That too after scoring a debut test century.

When he eventually made a come back in 2020, he showed what Pakistan was missing by hitting test hundreds against New Zealand, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and the West Indies.

In 12 tests since his comeback, he scored 703 runs at an average of 50. In this period, he had more centuries than anyone else from Pakistan, was one of the only three batters to average 50, and was one of the mainstays of their batting line up.

Then he had one bad series against Australia and found himself on the bench for the first test against Sri Lanka.

Why?

I have no answer for this, and I hope someone can explain this with some level of reasoning.

For the past 5 years, Shan Masood has been plundering runs in domestic cricket in Pakistan. This year, he did the same in county cricket, which is why there have been many a cry from fans to include him in the playing XI.

Shan has had a start-stop career with Pakistan. Having made his test debut in 2013, he has played test matches every year for Pakistan since then, with the last one in January 2021.

After 25 tests, he has an average under 30. Despite scoring some match winning centuries, he is too inconsistent for Pakistan as an opener.

The last time he was dropped from the team it was after scores of 0,1, 4, 18, 10, 0, 0, 0 across 5 test matches. That is 4 ducks in 8 innings for an opener.

He has had his fair share of international cricket and shown that he is not consistent enough to be a regular Pakistan test opener.

Even when he had a record domestic season in 2018-19 in List A cricket, he was given a run in Pakistan's ODI team and in 5 consecutive ODIs he managed only 111 runs at an average of 22.

While a prolific domestic runs scorer, I am afraid he cannot replace Pakistan's current top order in any format.

How does someone with a first class average of 37 make it to Pakistan's test squad in the first place is beyond me. How he makes it to a starting XI ahead of the likes of Fawad Alam (Test Ave 41, FC Ave 55) and Saud Shakeel (FC Ave 50) is just mind boggling.

The only reason I could think of was that he bowls handy off spin, which would be beneficial against the left handers in Sri Lanka's line up.

But to sacrifice proper test batters for that, I am not too sure.

Are there no good off spinners in Pakistan that they could have, and probably should have, included in the squad?

Or play Nauman Ali instead of one of the pacers. Surely you don't require 3 pacers at Galle.

Yes, Pakistan won the test, but the team selection was far from ideal.

With the next test also in Galle, I think Pakistan should put things right and bring back Fawad Alam in place of Agha Salman, and also bring in Nauman Ali in place of either one of the three pacers that played the first test.

And this record does not include Tests played in the UAE. With those, Pakistan's record is even more dominant.

This series win also helped Pakistan gain two spots in the ICC Test Rankings.

The best part about this series win is that every single player, across the two tests, put their hands up, and contributed towards Pakistan's victory charge.

Winning start to Babar Azam's Test captaincy stint; resurgent comeback of Hasan Ali; coming of age of Mohammad Rizwan and Faheem Ashraf; epic debut of Nauman Ali; continued redemption of Fawad Alam; and consistent breakthrough provided by Shaheen Afridi and Yasir Shah; first test rearguard action of Azhar Ali; and the immaculate slip catching of Imran Butt - all of them  played their part in Pakistan's first test series win over South Africa in 17 years!

It sure was epic seeing Pakistan come out on top in this Test series, and bodes well for the future of Pakistan's cricket under Babar Azam, as well as, for Pakistan playing at home!

From Javed Miandad to Inzamam Ul Haq to Mohammad Yousuf to Younis Khan, Pakistan have always had a formidable number 4 in Test matches. In most of Pakistan's Test XIs, the number four batsman is usually their primary batsman.

Javed Miandad fulfilled that role for most part of his career. He batted at number 4 in 140 out of his 189 test innings.

Once he retired, Saleem Malik took over the number four position briefly, before moving back to number five and promoting Inzamam Ul Haq up the order.

Inzamam batted at four in half of his total career innings and made that position his own before moving down the order and promoting Mohammad Yousuf to four, who was at the time at the peak of his batting prowess.

Younis Khan, who had batted at number three for most of his career and formed part of Pakistan's best test middle order with Inzamam and Yousuf, moved to the number four position after the retirements of the latter two.

Younis batted at 4 till the end of his career performing as well as he had done at three and as well as his predecessors.


As evident, all these batsmen performed admirably at number four.

So who is going to fill these big boots now that Younis Khan has retired?

More importantly, who is going to fill the big hole left in Pakistan's Test middle order with the retirements of both Younis and Misbah Ul Haq?

In the past 7 years since Misbah took over Pakistan's Test captaincy, he and Younis have collectively scored 30% of Pakistan's Test runs and 38% of Pakistan's Test hundreds.

How do you replace 9,000 test runs and 26 test centuries?

Just like Miandad and Malik passed on the mantle to Inzamam and Yousuf, they passed it on to Younis and Misbah. And now with these two moving on, the mantle sits firmly with Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq.

Both Azhar and Asad made their test debuts around the same time as Misbah made his test captaincy debut. During this period, Azhar and Asad have established themselves as the cornerstones of Pakistan's test batting line up.

While Azhar made his mark as a number 3 and later as an opener, Asad has made history as a number 6 test batsman.

Asad will most likely fill the vacant number 4 position, but Pakistan still require two test batsmen to bat at numbers 5 and 6.

Here is a list of potential incumbents whom I believe can take Pakistan's Test team forward.

FAWAD ALAM

He is 31. He has scored over 10,000 first class runs with 25 centuries and averages 56, higher than any other cricketer in Pakistan ever.

He has played 3 tests for Pakistan and even scored a debut 100. In fact he was the first batsman from Pakistan to score a test century on debut away from home.

Yet after 6 test innings, he was discarded and never played a test again.

In last season's Quaid-e-Azam trophy, he averaged 55, scoring 500 runs in 11 innings. In every first class season, he is among the leading run scorers. I have not seen a more consistent batsman in Pakistan than Fawad and it will always remain a mystery to me as to why he is constantly ignored by the selectors.

USMAN SALAHUDDIN

This 26 year old batsman from Lahore was picked for 2 ODIs during the tour to the West Indies in 2011. He did not appear for the international side after that, however he has been a consistent performer in domestic cricket.

In 10 first class seasons, he has piled on 6,000 runs with 19 centuries at an impressive average of 47.

He was the 4th highest run scorer in the last Quaid-e-Azam Trophy where he amassed 843 runs in 17 innings with 3 centuries and 5 fifties at an average of 70.

He has been on the verge of national selection for a while now and it is finally time he finds a permanent spot in Pakistan's Test XI.

HARIS SOHAIL

Haris has not played a first class match in over 3 years due to injury, however he has a phenomenal record, and he has shown in ODIs that he belongs at the highest level of the game.

His career first class average of 52 and 11 centuries in 80 odd innings with a career best of 211* suggests that he is made for the long version of the game. Even in ODIs, he showed his liking for staying at the crease, and his ODI average of 43 demonstrates that he is a world class batsman.

He might be the ideal replacement for a batsman like Misbah.

IMAM UL HAQ

He is only 21 and has been around for only 3 seasons. His overall first class average of 35 suggests that he still has to establish himself in the domestic circuit; however he has just had a breakthrough season where he notched up 848 runs in 20 innings in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and ended the tournament as its third highest run scorer.

Imam, who is the nephew of Chief Selector Inzamam Ul Haq, was extremely impressive in the QEA Trophy where he knocked 3 centuries and 3 fifties, including a career best unbeaten 200.

Some may feel that it may be too early to blood him, but I feel it might just be the right time for a young batsmen with tremendous potential to be introduced the highest level.

ASIF ZAKIR

A veteran of the domestic circuit, Asif has been around for 15 years and at 33 he might be past the ideal age to make a test debut, but then we have all seen Misbah blossom as a test batsman after the age of 35.

Asif's overall first class record is not that impressive - 7,000 runs, 19 centuries, and average of 37. However, he was the second highest run scorer in last season's Quaid-e-Azam Trophy with 853 runs in 11 innings at an average of 85.3. He hit as many as 4 centuries during the tournament.


So there are a few options for Pakistan's selectors to consider. Pakistan's next test series is some time away so the selectors have time on their hands before making their decisions. It will be interesting to note which batsmen make it into the squad and then which two make it to the XI.

My first two choices will be Fawad Alam and Haris Sohail; however I would also like to see Usman Salahuddin and Imam Ul Haq in the squad.

With Babar Azam set at number 3, ideally Asad Shafiq should move up to number 4, with the two new batsmen fitting in at 5 and 6.

Sami Aslam should also be brought back to open with Azhar Ali. The tour to West Indies showed us that Ahmed Shehzad and Shan Masood are not in the same league as Sami, who impressed with his temperament during the tour of England.

Azhar, Sami, Babar, Asad, Haris, Fawad sounds formidable enough to me!

The third ODI between Pakistan and Sri Lanka was one of those ODIs where everything went according to plan. It happens rarely for Pakistan but when it does it feels like there is no team better than them.

The openers gave Pakistan a solid start. The middle order consolidated the platform. The late order accelerated and ended the innings on a high note. The new ball bowlers got early breakthroughs. The spinners choked the middle order. The fielders caught well. The wicketkeeper took some breathtaking catches.

Everyone clicked. Everything worked. Pakistan won comprehensively.

When they perform like this it makes you wonder why they can't do it more consistently. However, despite being notorious for playing like champions one day and like clowns the other, some semblance of consistency has definitely crept into this ODI team.

Since the 3-0 drubbing at the hands of Bangladesh, Pakistan has played 6 ODIs - 3 vs Zimbabwe and 3 vs Sri Lanka. In 4 of the ODIs, Pakistan batted first and posted a total in excess of 280; in the other 2 ODIs, they successfully chased targets above 250 comfortably.

Does anyone remember the last time Pakistan played 6 ODIs with this level of consistency?

Does anyone remember how many times Pakistan posted a total above 280 in the 4 years they played under Misbah?

Does anyone remember how many times Pakistan successfully chased a target above 250 under Misbah?

Lets answer these questions.

Batting First under Misbah
In the 4 years between 2011 and 2015, while Misbah was captain of the ODI team, Pakistan batted first in 40 ODIs (barring ODIs vs Associates). In those 40 ODIs, Pakistan scored over 280 a mere 5 times.

Moreover, Pakistan's average score in those 40 ODIs was 235.

Chasing under Misbah
In the 4 years between 2011 and 2015, while Misbah was captain of the ODI team, Pakistan chased targets in 37 ODIs (barring ODIs vs Associates). In these 37 ODIs, Pakistan successfully chased a target of 250 or above only twice!

So basically, what Pakistan achieved in 4 years and 77 ODIs under Misbah, is pretty much what Pakistan has managed to achieve in 4 months and 9 ODIs under Azhar Ali.

What a joke! What a waste of 4 years.

Batting First & Chasing under Azhar Ali

In 9 ODIs under Azhar Ali, whether batting first or second, Pakistan have failed to cross 250 only once.

So what has changed for Pakistan? What are they doing differently now? What were they missing under Misbah?

I can think of a few reasons.

1. The Captain's Attitude

It is no secret that Misbah had a defensive mindset and Pakistan never adopted the modern approach to ODIs under him. Not losing wickets was the order of the day instead of trying to take risks and bat with a high run rate. Misbah himself never tried to play his natural game and instead built a game that focused on blocking endlessly and cutting loose only near the end of the innings and losing his wicket while doing so. The entire batting order played defensively and as a result Pakistan hardly scored enough runs to win ODIs.

Misbah's approach to batting was so outdated that instead of progressing, Pakistan's ODI cricket actually regressed during his 4-year tenure, which ended with Pakistan languishing at number 8 in ODI rankings.

Azhar Ali, on the other hand, started his ODI captaincy career by accepting the fact that ODI cricket can no longer be played the way Pakistan had been playing it for the past 4 years. He showed awareness of his own game and focused on improving his own strike rate and asking the same of his team mates.

While Misbah mostly played at number 5 and blocked away his time at the crease, Azhar Ali took on the responsibility of opening the innings and taking charge from the get go. Misbah was happy blocking the ball back to the bowlers, Azhar Ali charges down and clubs the ball over the bowlers' heads.

Talk about taking responsibility head on and leading from the front.

While Misbah the batsman did alright as captain, it was never enough. He also pales in comparison to Azhar Ali the batsman in the short period that Azhar has been captain.

2. Utilization of Key Players

Mohammad Hafeez is a key batsman in Pakistan's line up and he was key under Misbah as well. However, under Misbah, Hafeez was entrusted with playing the anchor role and his instructions were largely to keep one end intact. Not only did that curb the scoring rate but also denied Pakistan of aggressive starts considering that Hafeez either opens or plays at number 3.

Under Azhar Ali however, Hafeez has shown more aggression. The change is apparent and it is quite visible that the instructions from the captain and the dressing room are quite different from what they used to be with Misbah in charge.

The difference is highlighted by Hafeez' significantly higher strike rate under Azhar Ali as compared to under Misbah.

Shoaib Malik is a player who suffered a lot under Misbah. He lost his touch around the same time that he lost his captaincy to Younis Khan in 2009, however under Misbah he was constantly in and out of the team and did not seem to have a permanent position in the batting order.

Every time Malik would make a comeback to the team on the back of his prolific domestic form, Misbah would use him sparingly at 6 or 7. Malik was never able to translate his domestic form on the international stage and finally was out of favor with the selectors.

Out of the 21 innings that Malik batted in under Misbah, 15 of them were at 6 or 7. It makes you wonder why you would use him there considering that he bats at 4 in domestic cricket and that majority of his international success has also come at numbers 3 and 4.

The difference between his performance under Misbah and under Azhar Ali is drastic!

Under Azhar, Malik has comfortably slotted at number 5 from where he has successfully finished games for Pakistan while chasing, and he has taken advantage of solid platforms and played aggressively to give Pakistan strong finishes while batting first.

We finally have the Malik of the mid-2000s back. Unfortunately, Misbah never utilized him to his full potential.

Haris Sohail made his debut under Misbah after several successful domestic seasons. He displayed his prowess soon enough, yet for some reason he too had to curb his natural aggressive instinct under Misbah. Just take a look at the drastic difference between his strike rates under the different captains he has played under thus far in his short career.

Umar Akmal is another player who was wasted under Misbah. The junior Akmal played 67 ODIs under Misbah and batted in 59 of those. In 15 innings he batted at number 5, while in 35 innings he batted at number 6. Umar averaged 35 and had a strike rate of 86.6 under Misbah, which is similar to his career stats. He is one of the only 3 batsmen from Pakistan who average above 35 with a strike rate above 80 (other two being Saeed Anwar and Zaheer Abbas).

Umar is by far the most talented batsman to come out of Pakistan in the past decade, yet today he finds himself out of the international scene. Under Misbah, he was used as merely a slogger, despite various requests from him to play up the order. A batsman with his ability and stats to match should have been playing at 3 or 4, yet Misbah continuously played him at 6 while persisting with the likes of Asad Shafiq and Younis Khan in the top order.

Even Azhar Ali has been performing far better as captain than he did in his initial ODIs under Misbah. He had a pretty good average back then, but look at the difference in strike rates, which clearly highlights the changing mindset and approach.

3. Persistence with Non-Performers

I will never understand Misbah's fascination with the likes of Asad Shafiq. It is obvious to everyone that Asad is an absolutely magnificent test batsmen, yet at the same time he is a total misfit and atrocious in ODIs. I never understood why Misbah persisted with him for so long and that too at number 3 or 4 while the likes of Azhar Ali, Fawad Alam, Umar Akmal, Sohaib Maqsood, and Mohammad Rizwan either warmed the benches or languished lower down the order.

It really makes you wonder why Misbah never fought hard for Fawad Alam's inclusion the way he did for Asad Shafiq's.


While Misbah has been a brilliant captain in tests and has even gone on to win more matches as test captain than any other captain in the history of Pakistan cricket, he was completely rubbish as an ODI captain. He has been the driving force behind Pakistan's rise to number 3 in the test rankings, while at the same time he has been the sole reason behind Pakistan's fall to number 8 in the ODI rankings.

Not only did Misbah cramp Pakistan's batting in ODIs, he made the batsmen around him play defensively as well. It is the same players who are now flourishing under Azhar Ali, which goes to show what Pakistan has been missing in ODIs for 4 years.

With Haris Sohail and Sohaib Maqsood out with injury and the likes of Sami Aslam and Babar Azam warming the benches, it augurs well for Pakistan's batting bench strength.

The future looks bright, yet it could have looked this way had the PCB not sacked Afridi and replaced him with Misbah at the helm 4 years ago. Probably the biggest mistake ever in Pakistan's ODI history.

Nasir Jamshed may not have done much as batsman besides scoring three ODI centuries against India, but he has definitely started a trend in Pakistan. He is the showstopper of Pakistan Cricket Parody accounts on Twitter. There are so many parody accounts on Twitter now that it has become hard to keep a track of all of them. I don't know which one of them came first but they are all doing a fine job. None better than BIG NAS however.

Here are some of the prominent ones:



1. BIG NAS @NasirJamshed_

Overview: The account has been around for over a year but it truly gained popularity during the World Cup and with close to 60,000 followers is easily the most popular parody account in Pakistan. He is absolutely hilarious and borderline racist (ask the Bangladeshis). Every single tweet from that account leaves you in splits.

Pet Tweets: about his buffalo, his love of food, the love affair brewing between Shahid Afridi and Ahmed Shehzad, and a take on everything related to Pakistan cricket.

Funny Scale: 9.5/10

2. Javed Miandad @SirJavedMiandad

Overview: The account has been around for a while and is an extremely funny take on the great batsman's accent. Ith all aboul la way he thpeaks. Almost as funny as BIG NAS.

Pet Tweets: about everything from cricket to football, bollywood, and politics. He doesn't hide his love for the fairer skin either.

Funny Scale: 9/10

3. Mohammad Yousuf @MoyoTalks

Overview: This one is not as funny as the above two but he surely packs a punch like the batsman. This is a brilliant take on the bitter man that MoYo is and leaves no stone unturned in criticizing Afridi, Misbah, and the entire PCB establishment. Much like MoYo the cricketer.

Pet Tweets: about Pakistan cricket news and his take on it, bashes the entire Pakistan cricket establishment, and he also gets involved in educated discussions on the game. This is one of the few parody accounts that you can have an actual discussion with. Expect a lot of sarcasm.

Funny Scale: 8/10

4. Misbah Ul Haq @MisbahulSkipper

Overview: Even though this one does not claim to be a parody account, it is. For a long period many people actually followed it thinking it was Misbah Ul Haq. The account has been around for quite some time and is very popular.

Pet Tweets: mostly about Misbah's grievances with his critics as well as his own team. Bashes Sikandar Bakht, MoYo, Shoaib Akhtar, and his team members. Funny at most times, but not always.

Funny Scale: 6/10

5. Azhar Ali @AzharAliSkipper

Overview: This one seems to be a fairly new one. Going by the name it probably came into being once Azhar Ali was announced as ODI captain. The account hasn't yet gained as much popularity as the other ones but has the potential to be quite popular.

Pet Tweets: about his kaala til (black mole), calls his team the spirited leopards, and keeps no secret about his love for Sarfraz, Asad, and selfies.

Funny Scale: 7.5/10

6. Shahid Afridi @SAfridi0fficial

Overview: This one is not really a parody account per se, but it is a sneakily smart take on Shahid Afridi's official twitter handle. He is not funny but he tweets acting as if he is actually Shahid Afridi. There are plenty of people out there who have fallen for him thinking that its actually Afridi tweeting.

Pet Tweets: about Afridi, his lover Shehzad, and all other activities related to them. Speaks to other cricketers as if he's Afridi.

Funny Scale: 5.10

7. Fawad Alam @SirFawadAlamm

Overview: Another account that claims to be a parody account and has no affiliation to the real Fawad Alam. Came into being during the time Fawad was dropped from the team. Funny at times only.

Pet Tweets: about bringing Fawad Alam back, support for his Pakistan team mates, and digging at the Indians.

Funny Scale: 5/10

8. Umar Akmal @UmarAkmalNot

Overview: Like the cricketer, this account has been inactive for quite some time, but when it was around it had people in fits in short bursts, like his innings.

Pet Tweets: about his talent, potential, Misbah's tuk tuk, and hafeez' sideburns.

Funny Scale: 6.5/10

There might be more of these parody accounts out there. There are several under the name of Shoaib Akhtar and Inzamam Ul Haq, which don't have the Twitter verified tick nor do they claim to be a parody account. They aren't funny however.

If you know any others from Pakistan, please do share with us!

After losing 5 successive ODIs, Pakistan finally broke their losing streak yesterday by beating New Zealand in the first ODI in Dubai.

Despite this victory, Pakistan has a lot to think about leading up to the World Cup, which is just 2 months away now.

Saeed Ajmal's ban did not hamper Pakistan's preparations as much as Mohammad Hafeez' ban has. Pakistan have coped well without Saeed Ajmal, both in tests and ODIs, however without Hafeez' bowling, Pakistan will struggle more often than not.

With Hafeez not being able to bowl, Pakistan's entire balance and make up of the ODI team is impacted. Hafeez' presence in the top order and ability to bowl 10 economical overs with a wicket or two has been a luxury that Pakistan has enjoyed over the past 4 years.

However, now, in the span of just 7 ODIs, Pakistan has to come up with a viable alternative strategy for the World Cup.

The first solution was Haris Sohail. A prolific scorer in domestic First Class cricket, Sohail had played only 4 ODIs and 3 T20s for Pakistan before yesterday. He had not produced much with the bat in those 7 outings, and he had not delivered a single ball.

In his entire cricket career, Sohail had bowled 80 deliveries before the first ODI against New Zealand. Yesterday, Sohail bowled 75% of his entire career's deliveries in a single ODI!

There is no doubt that he did a great job. 10-0-39-0 are returns that Hafeez regularly produces for Pakistan. Sohail made sure that Pakistan does not miss Hafeez' services with the ball; however it remains to be seen if he can do it regularly or not.

Sohail came on to bowl when New Zealand were already on the back foot. Irfan and Wahab had provided vital breakthroughs and Sohail benefited from a batting unit that was under pressure.It will be a different situation when the batting team is on top or when a team is chasing a target against Pakistan.

I'm taking nothing away from Sohail's performance yesterday. He was superb. With both bat and ball and played an instrumental role in ensuring victory for Pakistan.

But, there is still a lot to think about. Three key things to think about:

1. The Professor's Dilemma

The biggest question that needs to be answered is the one regarding Mohammad Hafeez' place in the side. Does he still warrant an automatic selection given that he cannot bowl?

Nasir Jamshed is waiting in the wings. Sarfraz Ahmed can open the batting. There are middle order batsmen who deserve to be playing but are not.

Given all this, does Hafeez make the cut solely as a batsman?

Probably not in my opinion. He was severely exposed in South Africa, and majority of his good innings have come in the subcontinent; so to persist with him solely as a batsman for the World Cup in Australia might not be the best idea for Pakistan.

2. Keep Shoaib Malik OUT!

I could not believe my ears when I heard Rameez Raja mention Shoaib Malik, not once, not twice, not thrice, but four times during the entire match.

You got to be kidding me Rameez. Shoaib Malik is your answer for a batting allrounder? What has the man done in the past 5 years to warrant selection?

Just because he can bowl off spin makes him an option for Pakistan?

NO IT DOES NOT!

Fawad Alam, who happens to be Pakistan's best ODI batsman this year, and Sohaib Maqsood, who has had a tremendous start to his ODI career, can both bowl.

These are your batsmen, along with the newly found Haris Sohail, who can collectively contribute 10 overs in an ODI game for Pakistan.

Shoaib Malik needs to be kept in the wilderness. Or even beyond that if possible.

3. Fix the Middle Order

I still can't get over the fact that Pakistan went into this ODI with the middle order reading Asad Shafiq, Younis Khan, Haris Sohail, Misbah Ul Haq.

I wondered whether Misbah had confused the format of the game because that middle order sounds like one for a test match!

Asad (Test Ave: 40.2; ODI Ave: 25.9); Younis (Test Ave: 53.4; ODI Ave: 31.6); Haris (FC Ave: 52.0; List A Ave: 35.4) are proven performers in the longer version of the game. Anyone with some sense can tell you that the difference between those averages is too significant for them to be considered good for ODIs.

Once again, Haris showed immense potential and won the game for Pakistan, but would he have been able to do the same if Pakistan were chasing a score in the vicinity of 300?

Maybe he would have. I won't take any thing away from him after yesterday's knock. But what in the world are Asad Shafiq and Younis Khan doing playing at 3 and 4 for Pakistan's ODI team!!!?

That too with Umar Akmal and Nasir Jamshed on the bench, and Fawad Alam all the way in Pakistan.

Seriously?

This middle order needs a fix and it needs a fix soon.

Pakistan is running out of time and persisting with Hafeez when he can't bowl, thinking about Shoaib Malik when he can't bat nor bowl, keeping Umar Akmal and Fawad Alam out of the XI when they happen to be your two best batsmen in ODIs, and paying heed to someone's twisted demands to play Asad and Younis will not help their cause at all.

The World Cup is only 2 months away and everything seems to be in disarray.

One really has to wonder where Fawad Alam was all this while when the likes of Imran Farhat, Umar Amin, Asad Shafiq kept getting chance after chance for Pakistan.

It requires no genius to know that Fawad Alam continued to pile on the runs in the domestic circuit, while mediocre batsmen continued to fail for Pakistan for the past 3 years.

It was never really explained as to why Fawad Alam was dropped from the team in 2010.

His last ODI series was against South Africa in 2010 where he notched up a 48 and an unbeaten 59 in two of the five ODIs he played. The knock of 48 came in that famous Abdul Razzaq game in Abu Dhabi.

When Fawad was dropped from the ODI team he had played 27 ODIs and was averaging 37.68. That is definitely not the type of player you drop from the team.

He was not only unfairly treated in ODIs, but in tests as well!

In his first test, he played as an opener, a position he had never batted in in any form of the game at any level. You remember how he responded? With a debut test ton! Fawad scored 168 in his first test becoming the first batsman for Pakistan to score a debut century outside of Pakistan.

He played only two more tests after that.

Fawad Alam averages 55.87 in first class cricket and 47.05 in List A cricket. Those averages are higher than all batsmen currently playing tests and ODIs for Pakistan. Those averages are even higher than those of Pakistan legends like Javed Miandad, Inzamam Ul Haq, Mohammad Yousuf, Younis Khan, and Saeed Anwar.

I think those averages are higher than anyone who has played international cricket for Pakistan. (I haven't checked but I'm quite sure these are the highest numbers, if not one of).

How can anyone ignore a player with those numbers?

It is not like Fawad has not replicated the same kind of form at international level. He has.

We at Well Pitched have always been a big supporter of Fawad Alam. We used to vouch for him back in 2008-09 before he became a regular for Pakistan back then. And we have continued to wonder why he has been ignored for so long.

Just browse through the following voices we raised for Fawad Alam:

Here

Here

Here

Here

and

Here

With the unfair treatment meted out to him by the incompetent baboons sitting in the PCB (read Ijaz Butt and Mohammad Ilyas), Fawad's last two inningS in the Asia Cup are solid slaps across those faces. The two innings are a solid reminder of the type of player Pakistan has so needed in the middle order but have been denied due to politics and nepotism.

Fawad notched up his highest ODI score of 74 in Pakistan's Asia Cup encounter against Bangladesh and was involved in two match winning partnerships with Ahmed Shehzad and Shahid Afridi in a record breaking chase.

If that wasn't enough to prove his critics wrong, Fawad went various notches better and scored an unbeaten 114 in the final of the Asia Cup against Sri Lanka.

Fawad could not have chosen a better moment to score his maiden ODI hundred.

When he walked out to bat, Pakistan was reeling at 18-3 in 4.3 overs with both the in from Shehzad and Hafeez back in the hut.

Fawad batted beautifully for the next 45.3 overs and was involved in two century partnerships - with Misbah and Umar Akmal - to help Pakistan to a competitive score of 260, which looked highly unlikely with the way the innings started.

Fawad has probably played a match winning knock in a final of a tournament. Not many batsmen have done that for Pakistan.

You really got to wonder where this boy has been for so long.

And you really got to wonder whether a few slaps are enough for the people who kept him out.

It has been 3 weeks since Pakistan's domestic season got underway with the President's Trophy First Class competition that involves 10 department teams.

HBL, UBL, PIA, SBP, NBP, KRL, SNGPL, WAPDA, Port Qasim, and ZTBL have been engaged in this departmental tournament and all of Pakistan's test cricketers have been involved thus far.

Habib Bank, who are being captained by Younis Khan, are sitting at the top of the table currently with 3 wins out of 3 thus far; while PIA, Sui Gas, and State Bank follow with 2 wins each in their 3 matches.



Fawad Alam, who is captaining Natonal Bank of Pakistan, is the leading run scorer thus far, with 361 runs in 6 innings. He has already knocked two centuries and one fifty, and is looking in sublime form, just like he does in every domestic season.

It is quite unbelievable that a player like him who averages 58 in first class cricket, which is more than most Pakistan cricketers of the past and present, and who scored a debut test century, has had only 3 test caps.

Younis Khan is also looking in good touch with the only two innings that he has played producing a 48 and an unbeaten 101. He was on 101 overnight in HBL's match against SBP that started yesterday.

The SNGPL top 5 could very well be Pakistan's test line up with Hafeez, Taufeeq Umar, Azhar Ali, Umar Akmal, and Misbah

Mohammad Hafeez has had a decent run as well with 227 runs in 5 innings at an average of 45.4, while Umar Akmal has had two knocks of 48 and 40.

But the other three - Misbah, Taufeeq Umar, and Azhar Ali have had a torrid time at the crease. Pakistan test captain Misbah has managed only 53 runs in 5 innings, while Taufeeq and Azhar Ali have managed 129 and 158 in 8 innings respectively.

Among the bowlers, Habib Bank's Ehsan Adil is the leading wicket taker currently with 25 wickets in 4* matches. Ehsan is only 19 years old and is in his debut first class season. He was also a part of Pakistan's U19 World Cup campaign a couple of months ago.

Aizaz Cheema has also been in fine form with the ball picking up 21 wickets in 4* games, while two slow left arm spinners - veterans Kashif Bhatti of UBL and Zulfiqar Babar of WAPDA have picked up 23 wickets apiece.

With no international tours over the next 2 months for Pakistan, all the test players are involved in this President's Cup, which will make the upcoming weeks even more exciting.

My bets are on Habib Bank to continue their winning ways and remain at the top of the table. If you are looking to be in sports, click here for the best betting sites.

Stay tuned for more updates as another week of the President's Cup unfolds.

More than Pakistan's chances of advancing in the 20-20 world cup, I was concerned about Waqar Younis. The last time Pakistan got knocked out of a world cup in the West Indies, the coach did not make it back home.

Fortunately, things are different this time.

Pakistan's super league stage begins today with their first match against England. With New Zealand and South Africa to follow, the semi finals look like a sure shot but as always, with Pakistan one never knows!

They have not played all that badly so far, but something is missing.

All the batsmen seem to be in good touch, but the bowling, which was supposed to be Pakistan's firepower has lacked the zing.

Afridi, who is one of the most dangerous T20 bowlers, has gone wicketless in the two games against Bangladesh and Australia. What's more is that he has been expensive going at over 8 an over.

That is one of the key reasons why he has not looked like himself in the field.

Afridi has always been the go to man with the ball for past captains; he has always been the one chirping away in the outfield bucking up the rest of the players.

Now as captain, he needs to be doing that even more.

But due to his own below par performance with the ball, he has probably lost some confidence, and in turn his ability to lift his team mates.

For Pakistan to play like the T20 world champions, they need Afridi back at his best. Not with the bat, but with the ball and in the field.

One wicket will do wonders for him, but even if it doesn't come, as the captain of the team Afridi should be concentrating on the bigger picture.

We need more of the flamboyancy that he shows in his batting to come out in Afridi the captain.

That is the only way, we can have a successful Pakistan!

So far, I feel the team selection and the batting and bowling order have not been the best that Pakistan can offer.

The absence of Mohammad Asif and the presence of Mohammad Sami is inexplicable. Surely Asif needs to come back for the Super League games.

Not attacking the bowling with Razzak, something that worked 10 months ago, is also hard to understand.

Afridi needs to be more flexible with his bowlers and less so with his batsman.

Sure Mohammad Hafeez is a domestic star, but in international cricket he is at best an average player. That's why he keeps getting dropped and keeps making comebacks.

His offspin is crucial and can be a potent weapon if used wisely, so he should play but surely not at number 3.

Pakistan is wasting Fawad Alam at number 8 and no one knows this boy's game better than Afridi under whom at the domestic level Fawad has scored tons of runs in all forms of the game.

Give Fawad the number 3 spot and allow him to steer Pakistan's chase or setting of a total; I am sure he will not fail and will do a far better job than Hafeez in that position.

Afridi has been a flamboyant captain at the domestic level and if only he brings that out in the West Indies, does Pakistan stand a chance to have yet another successful T20 campaign.

Finally!

The game had been played out while I was in mid-air so I had no idea what went down till I checked the scorecard.

321. Brilliant!

Umar Akmal century. Aswesome!

Off only 70 odd deliveries. That's how he plays. Must have been one hell of an innings to watch.

Mohammad Yousuf and Misbah returned to the middle order. Why in the world?

Imran Nazir returned to the international fold. Finally!

Fawad Alam dropped. WHY!?

Rao Iftikhar took 5 wickets. You got to be kidding me!

The series has been lost so this was nothing more than a face-saving win for Pakistan but atleast they opened their account in what has been their worst tour to Sri Lanka in history.

Besides that, it was also good that Pakistan managed to win convincingly.

The biggest plus point though was that Pakistan won on the back of Umar Akmal's innings.

There are very few things more heartening than witnessing a young promising cricketer making his mark in international cricket.

I've been saying for some time now that Umar is Pakistan's future. Pakistan have blooded him at the perfect time and it will do them a lot of good if they continue to persist with him in the middle order.

After this innings, he is surely here to stay.

Now if only Pakistan can ask Misbah to leave his ODI colors and play Fawad Alam consistently in the middle order.

The win might have come too late in the tour, but I do believe that Pakistan is moving in the right direction.

Time is all they need, time is all that I have asked for.

Here's the particular excerpt from the post that I'm talking about.

Despite suggesting Yousuf's and Misbah's ouster from the ODI team, I certainly did not expect Younis Khan to actually do that.

I was pleasantly surprised to see Pakistan make the changes I thought they should.

In my view, it was the right decision.

The desired result was not achieved as Pakistan collapsed to 168, but at least the effort to blood young and promising talent at the expense of tried and tested seniors, who keep failing, was there.

Both Fawad Alam and Umar Akmal have done more than enough at the domestic level and A-team tours to command a place in Pakistan's middle order.

Their failure today should be looked at with one eye on the future. One failure should not be their judge; actually even a few failures should not be.

Yousuf and Misbah are not going to be around for too long; this is the best time to provide opportunities to their prospective long term replacements.

Both Fawad and Umar need to be given more chances in the remaining ODIs to prove that they belong at this level.

They are Pakistan's future.

Fawad has already shown what he is capable of in his debut test; while Umar's recent form coupled with a few of his boundaries this morning are enough to suggest the potential he has.

I believe they will come good for Pakistan very soon. For that to happen though, they need to be persisted with.

Play them in the remaining ODIs, take them to the Champions Trophy, give them the confidence, and let them settle into the groove of international cricket.

If Younis Khan is the kind of captain I think he is, then there is no reason why he would not do the above.

Everything from the chest x-ray at the airport to the customs, the cab ride, and the DLR train ride, have been smooth sailing.

The weather was a bit fickle but not something that made me think "why am I here?".

However, the fact that there was no coverage of the 1st ODI between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, made me think that!

Can you believe that?

I mean this is England, the "home of cricket", and a cricket series is not being covered on TV.

Sure the Ashes are going on and all of England is busy following that, but that does not mean that they ignore all the other cricket being played.

The Ashes are being shown in the UAE and Pakistan and India, then why isn't the Pakistan vs Sri Lanka series being shown here?

With that shock, I was given another when I opened the scorecard of the 1st ODI on Cricinfo.

I was shocked to see that Pakistan had won the toss and chosen to field first.

I was shocked to see that after having Sri Lanka down at 131-6, Pakistan let them get to 232.

I was shocked to see that Muralitharan smashed 32 off only 15 deliveries.

I was shocked to see that Shoaib Malik opened the batting.

So let me understand this; Malik does not open in the tests and a debutant in Fawad Alam is thrown at the deep end. Then when Fawad does well, he is pushed back down the order, while Malik is sent to open.

Does anybody see the logic in this?

And if this was the plan then why have Nasir Jamshed and Imran Nazir in the squad.

The failure of Malik, Yousuf, Younis, and Misbah did not shock me.

What did though was that Umar Gul and Mohammad Aamer put on 62 runs for the 9th wicket in only 43 deliveries!

Come to think of it, it was a match for the tails.

Both Sri Lanka's and Pakistan's last 4 wickets added 101 runs to the total.

When are the batsmen from both sides going to put their hands up to be counted?

It is high time!

For the batsmen to fire and for England to somehow get this series on TV!

This 2009 has been some rollercoaster of a year! For me as well as for the Pakistan cricket team.

I'll save my personal ride for some other time; Pakistan's ride has been nothing short of dramatic.

Captaincy change, a first home test series in 17 months, an attack on a visiting cricket team, an ODI series against Australia for the first time in half a decade, return of the ICL rebels, a World Cup win, retirements, a first test tour in 17 months, sensational debuts, unexplainable collapses, and what not.

Pakistan cricket has gone through a lot.

During this time, we at Well Pitched have been around riding this roller coaster with them.

Today as I get ready to shift base from the UAE to the UK, I leave with the news that Shahid Afridi has been announced captain of Pakistan's Twenty20 team.

How awesome is that!

Since the day Well Pitched came online about 2 years ago, I have been writing about two key things that I want to see happen.

One was the permanent inclusion of Fawad Alam in the Pakistan XI in all forms of the game.

The second was the elevation of Shahid Afridi to the position of Pakistan captain.

2009 has seen both those wishes come true.

Couldn't have asked for more, could I?

What's best is that this is just the beginning for Fawad Alam and Shahid Afridi the captain!

Surely better and bigger things are yet to come!

The problem I'm talking about is the one regarding the selection of the playing XI for the upcoming ODIs against Sri Lanka.

With the return of the ICL rebels into the international fold, Pakistan's 16 man squad looks very strong on paper.

I believe the squad provides Younis Khan with a lot of options; he and the team management have a lot of thinking to do.

Will it be the specialists, Imran Nazir and Nasir Jamshed? Will it be Kamran Akmal who had a great impact in the position during the World T20? Or will Fawad Alam continue in his new found role?

With Yousuf's return, the middle order seems packed with him, Younis, Misbah, Malik, Afridi, Akmal, Razzaq; will Fawad continue to be ignored?

Will he continue in the lower order where he has batted in ODIs for the last 3 years? Will he be used as a floater? Or will he come up the order where he rediscovered his batting form during the World T20?

With Yousuf out, Pakistan had the luxury to play with 6 bowling options; with Yousuf back, will they revert to using Malik as the 5th bowler? Or will Misbah or Malik make way for Yousuf?

Razzaq has not played an ODI for over two years now; does he still have a place in the team? If specialist openers are used with Malik, Afridi, and Akmal in the lower order then where does Razzaq fit in?

There are just some of the questions that Younis Khan and Co. should be looking to answer.

They better be thinking about it.

I surely am and I have still not been able to figure out what the best XI should be.

I always prefer to have 6 bowling options in ODIs; 5 is too big a risk in my view.

At the same time, I am extremely excited about watching a potentially explosive opening pair in Imran Nazir & Nasir Jamshed.

However, if that happens it would leave only 5 bowling options considering that Younis, Yousuf, Misbah, Malik, Afridi, and Akmal are almost garanteed a spot in the XI.

Unless Younis considers himself as the 6th option, which he should going by the way he bowled in the tests.

3 pacers? Or Saeed Ajmal and 2 pacers? If Ajmal plays then does Razzaq still make the team as the 2nd pacer?

See the problem I'm talking about. I think it has been a while since Pakistan faced so many options with the selection of an XI.

This is the XI I would look to play.

Q's XI: 1. Imran Nazir 2. Nasir Jamshed 3. Shahid Afridi 4. Younis Khan 5. Shoaib Malik 6. Fawad Alam 7. Abdul Razzaq 8. Kamran Akmal 9. Umar Gul 10. Mohammad Aamer 11. Saeed Ajmal.

Though I don't think that will happen. There is no way Younis Khan will drop Yousuf and / or Misbah.

I believe he should.

Well I would think that they had the ability too but these dramatic collapses of "Pakistani Proportions" are becoming all too regular now.

Just when you thought they couldn't get worse, we saw their worst collapse ever, and their third one in as many innings.

The new ball did the trick for Sri Lanka again as Pakistan's batsmen were found wanting against the swing of Nuwan Kulasekara.

Mohammad Yousuf was yet again undone by Rangana Herath, who for the second time downed Pakistan in the second innings.

Besides Fawad Alam's amazing effort coupled with Younis Khan's support, no Pakistani batsman was up for the challenge.

They folded meekly and left Sri Lanka with an easy target to chase.

The bowlers could have made it more competitive but Warnapura and then the experienced King Sanga and Jayawardene just took the game away.

It is a historic victory for Sri Lanka as it completes a first ever series win for them over Pakistan at home.

They had not beaten Pakistan in a test at home since 1986 and they had never won a test series against them at home ever; within 7 days of cricket they have completely turned those facts upside down!

As for Pakistan; a lot of thinking to do. Maybe later. For now, let the Sri Lankans rejoice.