We have already discussed the unfortunate decision to replace Sarfaraz Ahmed as captain of the T20 team. A team that he had taken to the top of the ICC T20 Rankings.

Before Sarfaraz was replaced, he had to contend with the inclusion of Ahmed Shehzad and Umar Akmal in his T20 squad for the series against Sri Lanka.

Instead of blooding fresh faces at home in conditions known to local players, Misbah Ul Haq's selection committee decided to bring in tried, tested, and failed players.

Who failed once again.

As a result, Pakistan lost the series 3-0 and Sarfaraz Ahmed was sacked!

Pakistan's two senior most cricketers - Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez - were unavailable (with the PCB's permission) for the T20 series due to their CPL commitments.

So fine you needed to replace them but why bring in Shehzad and Umar when other promising prospects are available?

What is even more disturbing is that for a tough tour to Australia, Misbah's selection committee has not only decided to change the captain of the T20 team, they have chosen to ignore Malik and Hafeez, and have selected uncapped and untried batsmen like Khushdil Shah and Imam Ul Haq respectively.

With all due respect to Imam Ul Haq, who I believe is one of Pakistan's best batsmen in Tests and ODIs, I really do not think that his game is suited to T20 cricket.

Khushdil Shah is also a promising middle order batsman with a penchant for power hitting, but he really should have been tried at home against Sri Lanka. The selectors are not doing him any favors by sending him to Australia for a first taste of international cricket.

But what have Malik and Hafeez done wrong?


Since The World T20 in 2016, Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez have been Pakistan's leading batsmen in T20s, after the newly elected captain Babar Azam.

Malik is in fact the second highest run scorer, behind Babar, during this period.

Hafeez is the only other batsman from Pakistan, besides Babar and Malik, to average in the 40s.

Their performances with the bat, and the ball, and in the field, have contributed immensely towards Pakistan's number 1 ranking in the world.

Not only for Pakistan, but both Malik and Hafeez have been among the best in the world in T20s over the past 3 years.


Malik is among the top 10 run scorers in the world in T20 Internationals in the past 3 years.

His average is the third best among these batsmen, behind Babar and Maxwell. His strike rate is also the third best among these batsmen, behind Maxwell and Munro.

Besides Maxwell and Malik, there are no other batsmen in the world who average above 40 and have a strike rate above 150 in T20 Internationals in the past 3 years.

Mohammad Hafeez is among the only 9 batsmen in the world who have an average above 40 in T20 Internationals in the past 3 years (among top 8 teams with a minimum of 10 innings).

Then why were Malik and Hafeez ignored for the T20 series against Australia?

Shouldn't they be the backbone of Pakistan's World T20 campaign next year?

Should they not get some innings in the conditions where the World T20 will be played in 2020?

What are Misbah and co thinking?

There was absolutely no need to tinker with the T20 team.

Instead Misbah has overhauled a team that was the best in the world!

Unbelievable ...

The ICC World Cup 2019 is 8 days away! It is every cricketers dream to not only represent their team at a World Cup, but to be a part of a World Cup winning team. For some, the dream comes true; but for many it remains just that... a dream.

This World Cup will be the last for a number of cricketers. Here is a look at those who will most likely be taking part in their last ever World Cup.



AUSTRALIA

Shaun Marsh
Despite making his debut in 2008, this will be Shaun Marsh's first ever World Cup; and most likely his last too considering he will be close to 40 by 2023. He has represented Australia in 70 odd ODIs in over a decade and has been in and out of the team due to indifferent form. He goes into the World Cup as part of the defending champions team.

He may not be a sure starter in Australia's first XI, but he would definitely be looking forward to making the most of this first, and probably last opportunity.

INDIA

MS Dhoni
Not only will this be Dhoni's last World Cup, at the age of 37, it may be the last we see of Dhoni as an international cricketer. He has had a distinguished career and is already a World Cup winner. This will be his 4th World Cup and from the lows of 2007 when he witnessed his house being stoned after India were knocked out of the World Cup in the group stages to the highs of 2011 when he led India to its second World Cup win, Dhoni has seen it all.

He will definitely be looking to sign off from India's international duties by adding another World Cup to his long list of achievements.

NEW ZEALAND

Ross Taylor
Also playing his 4th World Cup, Taylor will be 39 by the time of the next World Cup. He was part of the team that lost the final at the previous World Cup in 2015 and being New Zealand's most experience player, he would want to make that right the last time he represents his team in a World Cup.

PAKISTAN

Shoaib Malik
He is one of the only two cricketers who made their ODI debut in the previous century and are still playing. The other being Chris Gayle.

Despite playing for Pakistan for two decades, Malik has played only 3 World Cup matches, in 2007. For someone who has been around for so long, this would have been his 5th World Cup, but it is only his 2nd and definitely his last. He may still continue to play T20s for Pakistan, but this will be the last time he represents Pakistan in ODIs.

He will be looking to call time on his ODI career with a World Cup win, which will complete his ICC triple having been part of Pakistan's teams that won the ICC World T20 and ICC Champions Trophy.

Mohammad Hafeez
Hafeez has served Pakistan for 16 years and this World Cup is likely his last international assignment. He has been a great servant for Pakistan and has represented them in two previous World Cups in 2007 and 2011. He was part of the squad in 2015 as well but had to miss the World Cup due to injury.

Hafeez played a vital role in Pakistan's Champions Trophy win in 2017 and he will be looking to do the same during his swansong appearance for Pakistan.

SOUTH AFRICA

Faf Du Plessis, JP Duminy, Hashim Amla, Dale Steyn, Imran Tahir
At the ages of 34, 35, 36, 35, and 40 respectively, these 5 are unlikely to be part of South Africa's campaign in 2023. This also makes South Africa the team with the highest average age in this World Cup.

This quintet will try to achieve what none of their predecessors could. The likes of Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher, Allan Donald, Shaun Pollock, Graeme Smith, AB De Villiers and many more all left the game without a World Cup win. A dream that has remained elusive to South Africa, despite being one of the best, if not the best, ODI outfit during many a World Cup.

SRI LANKA

Lasith Malinga
He is at the tail end of his international career and this will surely be his last appearance for Sri Lanka in ODIs. This will be Malinga's 4th World Cup. He has represented Sri Lanka in two World Cup finals, in 2007 and 2011, both of which Sri Lanka lost. That will not be the memory he would want to go into retirement with.

WEST INDIES

Chris Gayle
The man, the universe boss, the legend! He is one of the greatest limited overs batsman of this era and at 39 this is the last time he will represent West Indies in international cricket. With this being his 5th World Cup, Gayle will be the most experienced World Cup cricketer over the next 6 weeks in the UK.

He has already made his intentions clear and he plans to retire from the game with a bang! We should expect no less from him given his recent form. He already has two World T20 wins under his belt and would love to end his international career with a World Cup win.


As all these stars bid adieu to the game at the end of World Cup 2019, there will be new stars that will emerge and make a name for themselves. Till that happens, here's hoping that all these cricketers can entertain us for one final time on the biggest cricketing stage there is.

Pakistan have now played 4 ODIs at Port Elizabeth and haven't lost even one!

That is quite a record for them in a place like South Africa.

No one really expected Pakistan to win the first ODI. I mean our ODI team is worse than our test team, and with the way the test team was wiped out, it was really difficult to expect the ODI team to win anything.

For starters, I felt Pakistan played the wrong XI.

I had wanted Shan Masood, Mohammad Amir, and Shaheen Afridi to be in the starting XI.

Leading up to the match a lot of people had said that they wanted Shan Masood to replace Imam Ul Haq at the top of the order.

That is not what I wanted.

Imam averages 60+ in ODIs and you can't drop someone who has scored 4 centuries and 3 fifties in ODIs because of his failures in test cricket. Imam deserved his spot in the team and he also showed everyone why he should be Pakistan's first choice opener in ODIs.

After this innings in the first ODI, Imam averages 64.6 and has scored 4 hundreds and 4 fifties in 17 innings!

What I had actually wanted was for Pakistan to go in with a top 6 comprising Fakhar, Imam, Shan, Babar, Hafeez, and Malik.

I feel Sarfraz at 6 is one position too high. He is not the batsman you want coming in at 50-4, which is something that happens to Pakistan quite often.

I know that means playing a bowler short but Hafeez, Malik, and Fakhar should be able to provide 10 overs among them. Moreover in a place like South Africa, and England (during the WC later in the year), even Shan Masood can turn his arm over for a few overs.

With the above mentioned top 6, followed by Sarfraz, Shadab, Faheem and any two pacers out of Amir, Hasan, Shaheen, Usman is a solid line up in my opinion.

The fact that Pakistan won the first ODI with what was arguably not their best XI is quite heartening.

The bowlers did a tremendous job restricting South Africa to only 266. They looked set for a 300 plus total but never really accelerated. It was a really odd scoreline seeing 266-2 on the board.

Despite that, no one really thought Pakistan could chase 266.

But Imam and Fakhar had different thoughts.

They gave Pakistan a solid start and when Fakhar departed after a quick 25, Babar Azam took over like he does every time he bats in colored clothing.

Imam held the innings together with a 45 run opening partnership, 94-run partnership with Babar, and a 46-run partnership with Hafeez.

Imam has scored 4 ODI centuries, but this 86 was his best ODI innings in my opinion.

After Imam left, it was all about Mohammad Hafeez. He was just sublime.

Dale Steyn missing from the line up probably helped, but after beginning slowly, Hafeez just owned the game and never made it feel like Pakistan will not get there.

It was great to see Pakistan win something on this tour after the embarrassing test losses, and it was heartening to see Pakistan win against a top team in ODIs, a format in which they have struggled heavily in recent times.

With 2019 being the World Cup year, it is a fantastic start for Pakistan's ODI team. 

Mohammad Hafeez, in his first test innings in two years, smashed a century ensuring that no one takes away the title of Comeback King from him.

Hafeez' 126 against Australia in the first test in Dubai was his 10th test century. He has now joined an elite club of Pakistan openers with 10 or more test centuries, whose only other member is Saeed Anwar!

Can you believe that? No test opener from Pakistan has scored more than Saeed Anwar's 11 test hundreds and Hafeez is only one century away from equaling that feat!

Considering that Australia, England, and India have each produced a couple of openers with more than 20 test hundreds. And at least 1 opener with 30 test hundreds, I was quite surprised.

But then, Pakistan hasn't really had that many stable openers. We are never patient enough with our openers and a couple of bad matches or 1 bad series and the selectors move on to the next one.

I wonder why that is.

In the middle order, batsmen seem more safe. They can go through more failures than openers can.

Case in point, Mohammad Hafeez, who was kept away from Pakistan's test side for two years despite scores of 224, 197, 151, 101*, 98, 96, 51, 42*, 42, 40 in his last 10 tests! He really only failed in one test in England (0 and 2) and he was dropped.

Doesn't seem right for a batsman who has arguably been Pakistan's second best opener in tests ever!


He has the third highest runs tally, the second highest number of test hundreds, and the third best average among all test openers produced by Pakistan.

Hafeez has been a world class opener for Pakistan, more so since November 2010 when he made his return to the Pakistan test team under Misbah.

Since that time, Hafeez is among the best openers in the world!


His average of 42.2 in this period is behind only that of Alastair Cook's, David Warner's, and Dean Elgar's.

It really makes me wonder why he was dropped from the team.

What further strengthens Hafeez' case as the first choice test opener for Pakistan is the fact that he has been involved in 7 out of the 13 century opening stands and 11 out of 15 fifty opening stands for Pakistan since 2010.


Hafeez has easily been Pakistan's best test opener since 2010 and I really cannot understand what resulted in him being dropped.

Please save me all the bull crap about his runs coming on flat decks and his centuries against weaker opposition. Hafeez has test hundreds against all test countries that he has played against, barring South Africa, and the only country he hasn't played test cricket against India.

For each one of his 10 test hundreds, there was another opener in the team also, playing the same opposition in the same conditions as Hafeez.

Mohammad Hafeez' comeback was so strong that he put on 205 runs for the opening wicket with Imam-Ul-Haq, which was Pakistan's 5th opening wicket stand of 200 runs or more, and the 6th highest test partnership ever against Australia.

I wonder how long Hafeez will last this time, but if he maintains the form that he displayed in Dubai yesterday, he will be on top of the list of Pakistan's test openers by the end of the Test series against New Zealand.

There was no surprise when Pakistan captain, Sarfraz Ahmed, won the toss and elected to bat first under the scorching Dubai sun in the first test against Australia.

Before the toss, Pakistan handed a Test cap to off spinner Bilal Asif, while Australia handed out three caps to Aaron Finch, Travis Head, and Marnus Labuschagne.


Mohammad Hafeez, making his comeback to the test side after two years, and Imam Ul Haq, wasted no time in ensuring that Sarfraz had made the right call at the toss.

Pakistan's openers dominated the proceedings for the first two sessions and out in 205 runs for the first wicket, in what was the 5th double century opening stand for Pakistan in the history of their test cricket.

Hafeez made his comeback memorable by knocking a superb century. His 126 was laced with 15 boundaries and it seemed as if he was never away from Pakistan's test team.


Hafeez has had numerous comebacks to the Pakistan team and every single one of them has been with a bang!

When he returned to the team at the Oval in 2006, he was playing a test after a gap of 3 years and showed everyone what Pakistan had been missing when he scored 95.

The second comeback that I remember was in 2010 against South Africa when Misbah took charge of the team. Then he came back with a 60 against an attack that included Dale Steyn.

And now, he bettered all his previous comebacks with a scintillating 126!

His opening partner, Imam-Ul-Haq continued the awesome start that his career has had, but he would be disappointed to miss out on his first test century after departing for a flawless 76.


It was a brilliant start from Pakistan's openers, but following their departure, Pakistan gave back some of the initiative that they had snatched away from Australia. At 205-1, one would think that the new batsmen would try to dominate the bowling that would have been tired out by the openers.

However, both Azhar Ali and Haris Sohail batted as if the scoreline was 2-2 and not 222-2!

If anything they showed the quality of the innings that Hafeez and Imam played in more challenging conditions.

It was still Pakistan's day with 250 odd on the board and only 3 wickets down, but it did not end at the same dominant note that it had started.

Just yesterday I wondered why Hafeez was not part of Pakistan's ODI squad despite producing good performances consistently.

And then we heard the news that Hafeez has been selected in the Test squad for the upcoming series against Australia.

Strange how things work in Pakistan. Hafeez hasn't played a test match in two years. He has played ODIs though and done well.

Yet he was ignored from ODIs, and received a last minute call for the tests.

Again, I wonder why.

Maybe it was because of the abundance of left handers in Australia's test team.

The only off spinner in Pakistan's 17-man squad is Bilal Asif, who has represented Pakistan in 3 ODIs and has done nothing of note in First Class cricket to be considered test material.

Shouldn't the management have considered this when the squad was being selected? Didn't they know about the left handers in Australia's team?

Pakistan does have able spinners in the squad in Yasir Shah and Shadab Khan, but their threat can be minimized due to the left handers. So a quality off spinner was surely required.

Considering Azhar Ali and Imam Ul Haq are the first choice openers, it does not seem likely that Hafeez will open, so he could not have been selected for that, especially when the squad has a back-up opener in Fakhar Zaman.

Or maybe the management is considering to move Azhar to number 3 and open with Hafeez and Imam.

Who knows.

It could be that Hafeez' recent performances in the Quaid-e-Azam trophy resulted in his selection.

A 6 wicket haul in one match and a double century in another surely would have got noticed.

And it is not like Hafeez has not done well in Tests in the past.

He has been one of Pakistan's consistent run scorers in Test cricket also since 2010.


He is actually averaging better than Asad Shafiq during this period. One wonders then why hasn't Hafeez played test cricket for two years?

Strange are the ways of Pakistan cricket!

I really wonder what Mohammad Hafeez has done wrong to not be a part of Pakistan's ODI team.

Just last year he was an integral part of Pakistan's Champions Trophy winning team. He played an instrumental role in propelling Pakistan to 338 in the final with a smashing unbeaten 57 off 37 deliveries. It seemed like Hafeez had found a new home in the middle order.

Following on from the Champions Trophy, Hafeez hit a couple of 30s against Sri Lanka including an unbeaten one, also while batting in the middle order.

Then in the series against New Zealand, where no Pakistan batsman really clicked, Hafeez had scores of 60 and 81, again while batting in the middle order. Those were the only two occasions that Pakistan surpassed a score of 245 in the entire series.

When Pakistan played again, a 5-match series against Zimbabwe, Hafeez found himself on the bench. He did not get a single game on tour.

Come the Asia Cup and Hafeez was out of the squad.

So after giving a solid consistent middle order performance over one year, Hafeez first found himself on the bench and then out of the squad altogether.

And I really do not understand why!

If the Asia Cup proved anything was that Pakistan dearly missed Hafeez's services.

Not only would he have strengthened Pakistan's middle order, he would have provided great value through his bowling.

His replacement in the XI, Asif Ali, is at best a T20 batsman. He definitely is not ODI top 6 material and it was apparent that even the team management thinks so when they decided to send Shadab in at the fall of the 4th wicket inside 20 overs.

Hafeez's inclusion the XI will not only strengthen Pakistan's middle order, it will give them an additional bowling option, and it will also allow them to include Asif Ali's hitting prowess at number 7.

That way Pakistan can actually field an ODI team with enough batting till number 7, followed by their allrounders, spinners, and pacers.

For those that feel that Hafeez is past his best and does not belong in Pakistan's ODI XI, here is a look at the performance of Pakistan's batsmen since the start of 2017.


That is actually a great record for someone who has been floating around numbers 4-6 for the past year or so.

The records of Babar, Fakhar, and Imam are inflated because of the run spree they all had against Zimbabwe, a series during which Hafeez warmed the benches.

If we exclude that series from this analysis, Hafeez's performance relative to the others looks even better.


In fact he averages better than Pakistan's current most popular batsman - Fakhar Zaman.

If one takes a look at the performance of Pakistan batsmen in ODIs in this decade, you may be surprised to realize that Mohammad Hafeez has been Pakistan's highest run scorer, as well as, their most consistent ODI batsman.


During this 8 year and a bit period, Hafeez has played the most ODIs for Pakistan and scored the most ODI runs for Pakistan.

Only Misbah Ul Haq and Babar Azam have a better average than him during this period, among all batsmen with at least 1,500 ODI runs.

Hafeez is also far ahead in the number of centuries for Pakistan during this period with 11 ODI centuries. And he has scored them against the likes of England, New Zealand, and India besides bashing the Sri Lankans and West Indians.

Then why is Hafeez out of this ODI Team?

It definitely cannot be due to cricket. There is probably something else brewing. Issues with the coach or management perhaps. Maybe a tiff with the captain.

I don't know what it is.

But whatever it is, for the sake of Pakistan cricket, it is better if this matter is resolved and Hafeez is brought back into the fold as Pakistan can really do with his services.

So after a 9-match ODI winning streak, Pakistan have now lost the first two ODIs in New Zealand and all has broken lose.

All of a sudden, the batting looks shaky, the captain looks concerned, and the bowling isn't good enough to contain the Kiwis.

So what has gone wrong?

Before that, lets first focus on what is right with this ODI team.

For starters, they have a world class modern day opener and one-down batsman in Fakhar Zaman and Babar Azam.

The bowling is top quality, at least on paper. Aamer, Hasan, Rumman, Faheem, and Shadab provide for great variety and potency.

In Shadab, Faheem, and Hasan, Pakistan also has depth in its batting, which will come to use if only the top order can fire.

Now then, what is going wrong?

The bowling leaked 315 runs in the first ODI and could not defend 150 in 25 overs in the second. That is definitely not top quality. Maybe the bowlers have not been able to find their feet yet in NZ conditions. Maybe Guptill and Monroe are too good for them. Could be a number of reasons.

But then, you can't afford to drop players like Kane Williamson, because they will take full advantage of the chances given to them and go on to score a century.

Pakistan also refuses to learn from its mistakes.

Azhar Ali has gotten out in exactly the same manner in both ODIs. His dismissal in the second ODI was so identical that one could be forgiven to mistake it for a replay of the first ODI.

Shoaib Malik continues to edge it behind the wicket whenever he bats outside Asia.

With Hafeez not bowling any more, Pakistan's ODI side may not be big enough for both him and Malik. Especially with the likes of Haris Sohail sitting on the sidelines.

Another issue that needs to be sorted is the captain's batting number. Six is not the right number for him and too low for a batsman of his ability.

He needs to bat in the top 4.

In 13 innings at number 6 in ODIs, he has scored 268 runs at an average of 26.8 with 1 half century.

In 9 innings at number 5, he has scored 421 runs at an average of 60.1 with 1 century and 3 half centuries.

In 7 innings at number 4, he has scored 197 runs at an average of 39.4 with 1 half century.

In 9 innings as an opener, he has scored 344 runs at an average of 43.0 with 1 century and 1 half century.

It is evident that Sarfraz is better at all other positions, besides number 6. He is best at number 5, which is where he batted when Azhar Ali captained the ODI team.

The reason he is lingering down at 6 is because of the presence of Hafeez and Shoaib Malik in the team.

I believe the batting order requires a reshuffle.

Sarfraz needs to be pushed up. Haris Sohail needs to be brought in. One of Hafeez or Malik needs to be dropped.

Or if one wants both Hafeez and Malik in the side, then drop Azhar and make Hafeez open.

This may somewhat improve Pakistan's batting performance and changes need to be made soon as we are only 18 months away from the World Cup in 2019.

Around the time of the World Cup 2015, I did an analysis based on a Facebook discussion I had. The analysis comprised understanding how often top batsmen hit boundaries in ODI cricket and how often do they rotate the strike. The main reason behind this was to determine how Pakistani batsmen fared compared to their international counterparts.

The results back then left a lot to be desired and it showed that Pakistani batsmen were well behind others in terms of boundary hitting, as well as, running between the wickets.

Since that World Cup, Pakistan has changed ODI captains twice. Both captains, Azhar Ali and Sarfraz Ahmed, have talked about changing the way they play ODI cricket. Both captains talked big about adapting to modern day demands, being more aggressive, and improving Pakistan's overall ODI game.

That is all that has been there in the two years and a bit since that World Cup - Talk.

There has been very little action.

I revisited that analysis for the top 50 ODI run scorers since the World Cup 2015. Just to recap, the two measures used to measure the effectiveness of batsmen are Boundary Rate and Rotation Rate.

Boundary Rate tells you how many deliveries a batsman faces on average before hitting  four or a six.

Rotation Rate tells you how often a batsman scores of deliveries that he does not hit for a boundary; i.e. how often a batsman rotates the strike.

Here are the results.










































The average number of deliveries for these batsmen to hit a boundary is 10.7.

Only one of the Pakistani batsmen, Shoaib Malik, fares better than this. While Hafeez hits a boundary as per global average, Pakistan's other leading batsmen take a few more deliveries before hitting one.

It is interesting to note that majority of the batsmen that hit a boundary every 7-8 deliveries are openers demonstrating the art of utilizing the fielding limitations in the first 10 overs and taking aggressive starts.

No surprise that none of the Pakistanis feature there.










































Rotation Rate tell a slightly different story. The global average is 52.3; implying that batsmen take at least a run on 52.3 deliveries out of 100, off the deliveries that they do not hit for a boundary. In other words, batsmen rotate the strike on average every second delivery they face.

Three Pakistani batsmen rotate the strike at a rate better than this - Sarfraz Ahmed, Shoaib Malik, and Babar Azam.

Pakistan's ODI captain in fact has the world's second best rotation rate, strengthening the case for Sarfraz to bat higher up the order. Shoaib Malik should probably also be batting a position higher.

Azhar Ali and Mohammad Hafeez are below par when it comes to rotating the strike. Hafeez, in fact, is outright pathetic as he languishes near the bottom of the table. He has a healthy average and decent strike rate but his inability to rotate strike puts needless pressure on his partners and on the team.

So while the new ODI captains have made the big talk, they have not been able to back it up with action. Pakistan has the ability to play modern day ODI cricket; however they will not be able to till the likes of Mohammad Hafeez and Azhar Ali keep featuring in the top 4 of their ODI batting line up.

Numbers 5 and 6 are too low for Malik and Sarfraz and they need to be at least one position higher. Sarfraz should maybe open in place of Azhar and ideally Haris Sohail should come in for Hafeez.

Pakistan needs to back up its talk with some action in the middle and it can only be done with a change in personnel, because the current one doesn't seem to have the intent to play more aggressively.

Only Pakistan are capable of being decimated by the world's number 3 ranked team one day, and totally dominate the world's number 1 ranked team on another. Only Pakistan can drive such fluctuating emotions among the cricketing fraternity.

Everything from Pakistan's bowling to their fielding, catching, running between the wickets, and batting showed significant improvement. It was a massive turnaround.

But let us not forget that South Africa are just as unpredictable as Pakistan are when it comes to ICC tournaments. South Africa have been and will always be easy pushovers in ICC tournaments.

It was a great game for Pakistan, but it wasn't perfect. While many things went right for them, there were still some mistakes.

WHAT WENT RIGHT FOR PAKISTAN

1. No Wahab Riaz for starters. Junaid Khan bowled beautifully with the new ball and then showed some great reverse swing skills at the death. Wahab has been lacking in both aspects for quite some time now.

2. Hafeez got to bowl. Why he did not get a single over against India will forever remain a mystery. His effectiveness against left handers could have come handy against Shikhar Dhawan.

3. Attacking fields ensured South African batsmen could not take easy singles. Sarfraz even had a slip after the 25th over, which resulted in a wicket.

4. It is amazing how a few quick wickets can make one field better. Pakistan's fielders looked unstoppable in the field yesterday. They were stopping runs, diving around, and just seemed to be every where.

5. Catches win matches. Who knows what India's total would have looked like had Yuvraj and Kohli been dismissed for 8 and 42 respectively. Pakistan's fielders held on to everything that came their way yesterday.

6. Fakhar Zaman. Just the sort of batsman Pakistan needs at the top. Again we will never know what took them so long to induct Fakhar into the ODI side. He looked authoritative at the crease, punished anything slightly loose, ran hard, and scored at a rate that all other Pakistani batsmen are unfamiliar with.

Really makes one wonder why this team was not played against India, doesn't it?

WHAT PAKISTAN DID WRONG

Despite the win, it wasn't at all perfect. There are still chinks in Pakistan's armor and significant scope for improvement.

1. Dot Balls. Pakistan played out 106 dot balls out of the 162 deliveries that they faced. That is huge percentage - 65% !!! Teams don't even play that many dot balls in their 50 over innings, let alone when they face only 27 overs!

Pathetic really. The main culprits are the usual ones - Azhar Ali and Mohammad Hafeez. Why don't they learn? Why can't they at least take singles? Why must they seem so inept at the crease?

Babar Azam looked like a transformed batsman as soon as Shoaib Malik walked out, who seemed to be batting on an entirely different pitch than Hafeez was.

2. Bowling changes by Sarfraz Ahmed left a lot to be desired once again. It is criminal to not allow your best bowlers on the day to bowl their full quota of overs. Hasan Ali and Imad Wasim bowled only 8 overs each. Imagine what Pakistan would have been chasing had these two bowled 4 more more overs.

The two bowlers that completed their 10 overs were the ones with the worst economy.

And your best bowler against India bowled only 5 overs.

Our ODI captain has a long long way to go and learn.

I hope Pakistan get keep on improving and once again become the ODI force they used to be. At least they are starting to make the right changes.

A few more like replacing Azhar and Hafeez with younger and more aggressive batsmen, getting Faheem Ashraf into the XI, and moving Sarfraz higher up the order, can do wonders for this ODI team.

For now, here's hoping they can repeat their performance against Sri Lanka and then let other match results decide whether Pakistan plays the semifinals or not.

The Pakistan Cup came to a conclusion last night with the Federal Areas completing a thrilling one wicket win over Balochistan in the final.

Chasing a rather steep target of 324, Federal Areas had a great start with Sami Aslam and Mohammad Hafeez making it look rather easy. A collapse, however made the game close than it should have been. And it ended up being a nail biter!

The Pakistan Cup had some impressive performances, which should be noted by the selectors.

Mohammad Hafeez
I have stated many times that I will never understand the criticism against Hafeez, especially in ODIs. In Tests and T20s, I get it. But in ODIs, Hafeez has been Pakistan's best batsman over the past 6-7 years; barring the recently blooming Babar Azam.

The Pakistan Cup further consolidated his status in the ODI format. Not only was he the leading run scorer of the tournament with 362 runs in 5 innings at an average of 72.4 and a strike rate of 99.5, he was also the Man of the Final and the best batsman of the tournament.

There really should not be any doubt about his place in the ODI team.

Sami Aslam
I have no clue why he was dropped from the test squad to the West Indies and replaced by lesser openers. Whatever the reason was, Sami Aslam responded in the best manner possible.

He amassed 333 runs in 5 innings at an average of 66.6 and a strike rate of 114.4. Quite awesome for a modern day opening batsman.

There should never be a doubt regarding his position as a test opener; this Pakistan Cup has also opened the opportunity for him to be considered as an ODI opener.

Sahibzada Farhan
This unknown 21-year old batsman from Charsadda is playing his second domestic season in Pakistan and he had everyone take notice following his consistent performance in the Pakistan Cup.

In 5 innings as opener of Balochistan, he knocked 4 half centuries and 1 century, which came in the final. He scored 331 runs at an average of 66.2 and a strike rate of 103.4.

He is definitely one for the future!

Fahim Ashraf
He was recently selected for Pakistan's ODI squad to play against the West Indies; however he did not make it to the playing XI in either of the matches.

He was the second highest wicket taker of the Pakistan Cup and has a very impressive List A and First Class Record with the ball.

After a lay off due to injury, indifferent form in international cricket, and a lackluster PSL, Mohammad Hafeez is back in Pakistan's ODI and T20 squads for the West Indies.

Not many people are thrilled with his inclusion. He used to draw plenty of criticism while he was performing, so one can only imagine the criticism he must be receiving right now when he has not been at his best.

I, however, am thrilled with his inclusion.

I am also thrilled because he liked my tweet, which questioned his critics.

To reiterate my point about openers and number 3s who have turned out for Pakistan in the past decade, just take a look at the following...

Besides Azhar Ali and Sarfaraz Ahmed, no one has a better average in ODIs as an opener for Pakistan in past 7 years. We all know the fate of poor Azhar Ali, and I guess Sarfaraz can't also open given his role as captain and wicket keeper! Or can he?

At number 3, Hafeez' performance is even more impressive. No one even comes close to him in terms of the runs and centuries he has piled on from this position (besides the majestic Babar Azam ofcourse). His average and strike rate also better at this position.

As I tweeted earlier, I will never understand the criticism against Mohammad Hafeez.

He has always been valuable as a top order batsman, and now with his bowling, he is even more key for Pakistan.

Since the start of 2010, Mohammad Hafeez has been Pakistan's most successful opener in ODIs. He has the most runs, the second best average (after Azhar Ali), and the second most 100s (after Ahmed Shehzad.


Based on this, Hafeez' inclusion in the side is a nobrainer. He should be opening for Pakistan if fit, no question about it.

And if you are going to question his ability outside Asia, then I guess do the same for the rest. Compare him to his peers, not Australians or Indians.

Having said that, Hafeez played only 4 ODIs in all of 2016, a year where Azhar Ali and Sharjeel Khan cemented their positions at the top of the order for Pakistan in ODIs.


Hafeez batted at number 3 in his 4 innings in 2016, something that he has done for some time now, and he has excelled at the position as well. He has been more successful at number 3 than while opening the innings in ODIs.

And in fact, Hafeez has been the most successful number 3 Pakistan has had in ODIs since 2010.


But the problem is, how can he come back into that position given what the fourth name in the above list achieved in the last ODI series Pakistan played.

Babar Azam's 3 consecutive centuries against the West Indies was a tremendous effort and it will be criminal to ask him to bat anywhere else.

So if Hafeez does not fit into the top 3, where does he fit?

With him bowling again his presence will be invaluable to the team, especially in the shorter formats; however the team management will need to rethink their strategy regarding his batting order.

With Azhar, Sharjeel, and Babar occupying the top 3 spots, my bet is that Hafeez will be utilized in the lower middle order. His aggression can be best suited to the latter stages of an innings.

There is no question that Hafeez deserves a place in the ODI squad. The only question is, where will he bat?

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.

While Misbah Ul Haq and Shahid Afridi, the two men who have retired from ODIs following the World Cup, will continue to lead the test and T20 teams respectively, the PCB is in a fix regarding who will be Pakistan's next ODI captain.

Several names have been doing the rounds and everyone from Mohammad Hafeez to Shoaib Malik, Azhar Ali, Sohaib Maqsood, Wahab Riaz, and Sarfraz Ahmed have been named to be in some sort of contention for the post.

Pakistan's next series is against Bangladesh on 15th April so there isn't much time and a decision needs to be taken in the next 2 weeks or so.

It is not an easy decision by any means. No one was really groomed under Misbah as Shahid Afridi and Mohammad Hafeez served as deputies at different times under him. Afridi is gone, while Hafeez, who missed the World Cup due to injury, may only be a short term solution.

Here's our attempt at weighing the candidates and assessing their potential to captain Pakistan's ODI team.

Shoaib Malik

It is amazing how his name never seems to leave Pakistan's cricket circles despite having done absolutely nothing of note for 5 years now. Malik's previous captaincy stint was a disaster as he alienated senior players in his team and became a yes man to the then PCB Chairman. In my view, Malik is spineless and will do no good to the team by being a part of it. I believe he should be kept away from Pakistan cricket for good.

If the selectors feel that he deserves to be brought back then maybe, just maybe, a comeback to the middle order would be acceptable. But as captain? Absolutely not.

Wahab Riaz

He is the flavour of the month in Pakistan. He is Pakistan's new superstar, Pakistan's new poster boy. After 19 years of holding on to that mantle, Shahid Afridi finally passed on the baton in his last ever ODI.

Wahab Riaz had an outstanding World Cup. He won games single handedly, scripted victories for Pakistan with the ball, and gave Australia a scare like no one has. His stocks have risen tremendously after this World Cup, but a decision to make him captain will be an emotional one.

Between his 5-for in Mohali in 2011 and this World Cup, does anyone remember where Wahab was? He barely played for Pakistan during these 4 years as he was either out of favour or injured. Even when he played he was thrashed around like a school bowler. There were stories of him being a 'sifarshi', a 'parchi'; someone no one wanted in Pakistan's team. So much so that his inclusion in Pakistan's World Cup squad was also criticized.

A few good games does not make one a captain. Pakistan may have just found their next attacking weapon with the ball; there is no need to burden him with the captaincy. Let us and the cricket world get joy from his bowling while it lasts.

Sohaib Maqsood

I was surprised to hear that he was being considered. In fact his name had come up before the World Cup as well. He doesn't even captain in domestic cricket, hence my surprise. I doubt he is being considered seriously at this point given his below par World Cup performance. He still needs to work on his batting before he can be considered captaincy material in my opinion.

Azhar Ali

Once again I am not sure why his name is doing the rounds. He doesn't even play ODI cricket for Pakistan. The World Cup showed how far behind Pakistan's batting is compared to the rest of the world. At a time when Pakistan needs to find modern aggressive ODI batsmen, they can't go calling for Azhar Ali's inclusion in ODI cricket.

He is a valuable member of the test team and maybe even a future captain there, but he has no future as an ODI batsman, let alone a captain.

This brings me to the final two candidates - Mohammad Hafeez and Sarfraz Ahmed.

Hafeez has captained Pakistan already, as a full time captain of the T20 team and a stand in for ODIs and Tests. He was Misbah's deputy for the longest time and also captains in the domestic circuit. So he's got ample captaincy experience and he will be back to play ODIs for Pakistan as it was only the injury that kept him out.

Sarfraz Ahmed has captained Pakistan at the U19 level and has a successful U19 World Cup campaign on his CV. He has had a magnificent year in international cricket across all formats and has solidified his position as Pakistan's premier wicketkeeper batsman in tests, ODIs, and T20s. But is he ready to take over the team as captain?

This is what I think should be the plan.

Misbah will lead the test team for probably another year. Pakistan's next few scheduled test series include a tour to Bangladesh in April, a tour to Sri Lanka in july, a series against England and India in the UAE between October and January, and a tour to New Zealand in February. That is how far Misbah is probably looking at and that is how long he should be at the helm of test cricket for Pakistan.

Afridi has already announced that he will captain Pakistan's T20 team till next year's World T20, which will be played in India in March next year.

What this means is that in a year's time, Pakistan will be looking for a test and T20 captain as well.

There are only two cricketers in Pakistan that play all three formats with some sort of success - Sarfraz Ahmed and Ahmed Shehzad. And one of them should be captain across all those formats. No prizes for guess who it should be.

What I would urge PCB's Chairman to do is the following:

1. Call Misbah, Afridi, Hafeez, and Sarfraz in for a meeting.
2. Tell them that he is looking to appoint Sarfraz as captain for Pakistan's test, ODI, and T20 teams.
3. Tell Hafeez that he should captain the ODI team for that 1 year with Sarfraz as his deputy.
4. Tell Misbah and Afridi that Sarfraz will be their deputy as well in Tests and T20s.
5. Tell them all to support Sarfraz and groom him under their captaincy to the best of their abilities.

What this will do is that it would give Sarfraz some more time to learn the ropes under the best captains Pakistan has had in the past 5 years without putting any undue pressure on him. It will then give Pakistan a captain who can probably serve them for the best part of a decade.

That is the best way forward in my opinion.

This article first appeared on DAWN.

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.