I have so many thoughts after Pakistan's loss last night to Bangladesh that I don't even know where to start.

Even though Pakistan has won the Asia Cup only twice, they did manage to reach the final of the past two tournaments in 2012, which they won, and 2014. And no one really expected them to be knocked out by Bangladesh; I guess therein lies the problem.

Pakistan were clean sweeped by Bangladesh just a year ago, so the result should not be a surprise.

But it hurts.

It really really hurts.

We could have still won it had Sami not turned up half stoned in the 19th over. Sure the batsmen had failed, 129 was never going to be enough, and Soumya Sarkar had almost taken the game away in the first 10 overs. But Pakistan had fought back well. Irfan, Aamer, and Afridi were exemplary with the ball and kept Pakistan in the hunt. Even Sami's first 3 overs were spot on and kept the runs in check.

If it was not for that no ball of the 4th delivery of the 19th over, Pakistan would have sneaked through.

Think about it.

Had Sami landed his foot behind the popping (no pun intended) line, Mashrafe Murtaza would have holed out and Bangladesh would have had to get 15 off 8 with 4 wickets left.

Instead they required 12 off 9 with 5 wickets in hand.

That one delivery lost the game for Pakistan.

Mohammad Aamer got banned for 5 years for bowling one no ball. Sami should be banned for 10!

Because if we don't Pakistan's mindless selectors will recall him again and again and again ...

About two weeks ago, Pakistan's selectors announced the 15-man squad for the World T20, which included as many as 5 rookies. Since then the selectors have had a chance to assess performances in the just concluded PSL. Injuries, coupled with a few superlative performances in the PSL, resulted in the selectors announcing 3 changes to Pakistan's squad.

Out went the injured Babar Azam and Rumman Raees, while Iftikhar Ahmed for dropped.

In came Sherjeel Khan, Mohammad Sami, and Khalid Latif.

There were already question marks over the selection of Khurram Manzoor who could not even find a place in one of the PSL squads and with these changes the selectors have raised even more questions.

Sherjeel Khan, who had impressed in the T20 series against the England Lions in Dubai in January, should have been in squad from the beginning. If Ahmed Shehzad was going to be dropped, then Sherjeel was the ideal replacement, not Khurram!

At least that wrong has been corrected and on the back of PSL's only century, Sherjeel is back in favor.

It is the other two selections that are completely puzzling!

Khalid Latif impressed in the PSL scoring 206 runs at a strike rate if 119.07. His highest score of 59 was his only 50 in the PSL.

Good numbers, but it really makes me wonder why the selectors looked at him and not Ahmed Shehzad who piled up 290 runs in the PSL at a strike rate of 143.56. He also managed two fifty plus scores and shone for the Quetta Gladiators, ending the tournament as their highest run scorer - higher than KP, higher than Luke Wright.

It really makes no sense to me.

And poor Iftikhar Ahmed who had to make way for Khalid Latif. Iftikhar has been part of Paksitan's squad for the past 3 series, hasn't got a single game, and now finds himself on the sidelines.

I really want to know what the selectors have been smoking.

Maybe the same stuff that Mohammad Sami has been considering he also finds his way into the squad.

Sure Sami's performance in the PSL was outstanding. He took wickets, he was economical, and he looked as fast as he did 15 years ago.

But he's Mohammad Sami!

This is probably his 11th comeback to the national team. It is the same story all the time. He has been a domestic performer for almost 2 decades now. Isn't it about time that the selectors realize that he doesn't have it to succeed at international level?

Pass on some of that stuff selectors!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This is what is called a major overhaul!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Zain, who made his T20 debut two days ago in the Tigers' game against the Wolves, smashed an international calibre attack for an impressive 85 runs off 65 deliveries, leading the Tigers to a match winning total of 161 off 20 overs.

The Dolphins, whose pace attack included internationals Tanvir Ahmed, Mohammad Sami, and Sohail Khan had no answer to Zain's attack as his onslaught comprised of 3 sixes and 10 hits to the fence.

Zain score more than half the Tigers runs, which proved to be more than enough for a 14 run win.

Despite their batting line up including a number of internationals such as Shahzaib Hasan, Khalid Latif, Asad Shafiq, and Fawad Alam, the Dolphins could not over haul the Tigers score.

Zain, who has so far opened in all his domestic innings, made his first class debut this season for Baluchistan and has so far impressed with two half centuries in 4 innings.

His List A performance has been even more impressive with a century and 3 half centuries in 5 innings.

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.