The PCB launched the Pakistan Cup recently, a domestic one-day competition that replaces the Pentangular Cup, with all the right buzz words like "improved product", "tougher competition", "attracting investors" and so on.

The Pakistan Cup will be contested by 5 regions - Punjab, Sindh, KPK, Balochistan, and Federal, which will be captained by Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed, Younis Khan, Azhar Ali, and Misbah Ul Haq respectively.


Yesterday, the PCB conducted a draft for the selection of the 15-man squads for each of the teams. We have heard of player auctions for domestic T20 leagues, and we even witnessed a first ever player draft on the lines of the NBA two months ago for the Pakistan Super League. However, for a one-day competition, this was a first.

Full marks for being innovative!

The draft began with a list of around 170 cricketers that the regions could select from. Besides selecting one U-19 player from their own region, there was no other criteria for selection.

Here's a list of the players that the regions had to select from.


And here are the selected squads.


All well and good?

Not at all.

So here are my issues with all of this.

1. The Captains

So it makes sense to make Azhar Ali the captain of one of the teams considering he is Pakistan's ODI captain. Makes sense to make Sarfraz captain as well considering he has just been announced captain of Pakistan's T20 team and is also the Vice Captain of the ODI team.

But the other three captains do not make sense at all.

Misbah and Younis have long retired from ODIs, while Shoaib Malik is in the final few years of his career.

The PCB missed a golden opportunity of providing captaincy experience to future prospective leaders. At a time when the national team has a dearth of leaders this was the perfect chance to test the captaincy skills of some players and even groom some of them.

I can understand the presence of Misbah and Younis in the squads despite their ODI retirements. They are senior players and will bring in plenty of wisdom to the dressing room that other players can draw upon and learn from. However, having them captain the teams serves no purpose. Another player with the reigns, coupled with the opportunity to bank on advice from senior pros, would have provided for a great learning opportunity.

Imad Wasim, a former U19 captain and Asad Shafiq are just two examples of players who could have benefited from such an approach.

But then again, we know that the PCB has no vision for the future!


2. The U19 Selections

WHERE IS HASAN MOHSIN?

Anyone who watched the U19 World Cup earlier this year (each one of the PCB members and selectors should have been watching it) must have seen Hasan Mohsin. The way the kid batted must have put some of the senior players to shame!

He was Pakistan's leading run scorer and leading wicket taker in the U19 World Cup.

AND HE WAS NOT SELECTED BY ANY REGION!

There has been a lot of hoopla regarding the selection of Arsal Shaikh by the Federal region and the consequent disappointment of Misbah. For those who are unaware, Arsal is the son of Shakeel Shaikh who is a member of the Governing Board of the PCB. He is also the head of PCB's cricket committee and was the head of the recent committee formed to investigate the humiliation at the World T20.

So that is the only claim to fame for Arsal Shaikh as his performance is shit. What was the basis of his selection? We all know the answer don't we.


3. The Other Selections

I have no idea what the criteria was for the pool of 170 odd cricketers or for the 15 selected by each region. It does not seem like performance was given any due weightage. Rather the captains / regions just selected players they were comfortable with.

This is why I think so:

Usman Salahuddin
He was part of the pool of 170 but not selected by any region.
Anyone know why?

In the National One-Day Cup that was played in December 2015 he was the 4th highest run scorer with 469 runs in 7 innings at an average of 93.80 and a strike rate of 84.5. He knocked 2 centuries and 2 fifties in those 7 innings.


Saeed Anwar
He was also part of the pool of 170 but not selected by any region.

In the National One-Day Cup he was the 5th highest run scorer with 404 runs in 8 innings at an average of 57.71 and a strike rate of 90.38. He scored 1 century and 3 fifties!

Abdul Rehman Muzammil
He was also part of the pool of 170 but not selected by any region.

In the National One-Day Cup he scored 337 runs in 5 innings at an average of 67.40 and a strike rate of 100.89. He scored 2 centuries in those 5 innings including a 159!

Raza Ali Dar
He was also part of the pool of 170 but not selected by any region.

In the National One-Day Cup he scored 293 runs in 6 innings at an average of 97.66 and a strike rate of 88.25. He scored 1 century and 2 fifties. On top of that, he also picked up 11 wickets in the competition at an average of 27.18 and had an economy of 6.1!

Faisal Iqbal

Mukhtar Ahmed was selected to open for Pakistan in T20s. In his first 3 matches he scored 37, 83, and 62. Then in the next 3 matches he was dismissed for 2,4, and 4. After 6 T20s for Pakistan, Mukhtar averages more and has a higher strike rate than any opener for Pakistan in T20s. Why did the selectors discard him after 3 bad innings?

Sami Aslam was selected in Pakistan's test and ODI squads. In 2 tests, he could not score more than 20. In his only ODI he scored 45. Why was he dropped from the ODI squad?

Ahmed Shehzad, in his first 8 tests, scored 3 centuries and 2 fifties. He averaged 48. In his next 3 tests he had scores of 9, 43*, 1, 69, 21, 0; and then he was dropped from the test team. Sure he has not been up to the mark in ODIs and T20s but why was he dropped from the test team?

Since 1st January 2015, Mohammad Hafeez has played 22 ODIs for Pakistan and has piled up 900 runs (including 2 centuries and 6 fifties) at an average of 42.85 and strike rate of 86.12. In the same period he has played 7 tests where he has scored 710 runs (2 centuries and 2 fifties) at an average of 59.16. Whereas, in 15 T20s during this period he has only 1 fifty; in his other 14 innings he has crossed 25 only once. Why does he continue to play T20 cricket for Pakistan?

Khurram Manzoor did well in one day games against the England Lions. He also performed well in the National One-Day Competition. Why was he selected in a T20 squad?

Sherjeel Khan made his ODI and T20 debut for Pakistan at the end of 2013 and played both formats for 6 months. After an impressive 61 on ODI debut, he failed miserably in his next 10 ODIs. In 3 T20s during the same time he had scores of 18, 34, and 50. Why was he dropped from both formats after that and didn't continue playing only T20s?

Fawad Alam has an ODI and Test average of over 40. He was Pakistan's leading run scorer in ODIs in 2014. He made a century on test debut. He keeps piling on the runs in domestic cricket. Why is he continuously ignored?

Anwar Ali has played 22 ODIs and 16 T20s for Pakistan. He has been a permanent feature of the team for the past 2-3 years. He averages 52 and 35 with the ball respectively in ODIs and T20s. Why does he continue to get selected?

Sohaib Maqsood had a very impressive start to his ODI career scoring 50s in his first 2 ODIs. He continued to do well in ODIs leading Pakistan to some memorable victories. In 25 ODIs he averaged 32 and had a strike rate of 84. During the same time, he didn't do well in T20s at all with a highest score of 37 in 15 T20s and an average of under 15. After the World Cup in 2015 he got injured. Since his comeback he has played T20s only, where he failed, and eventually got dropped. Why hasn't he played ODIs since his injury? Why wasn't he dropped from T20s long before?

Junaid Khan has picked up 78 wickets in 52 ODIs at an average of 27 and an economy of 5.27. He also has 71 wickets in 22 tests including five 5-wicket hauls. Why hasn't he played a single international game for Pakistan for almost a year?

Mohammad Nawaz has an impressive List A and First Class record as a batsman. He opened for NBP throughout last season and performed admirably. In the PSL he batted at 4 or 5 for Quetta Gladiators and impressed everyone with his aggressive batting. He was more than a handful with the ball and was also among the top wicket takers of the league. Primarily a batsman, why was he played only as a bowled in the recent Asia Cup? Why wasn't he included from the get go to bat in the top 6?

Imad Wasim has 7 wickets from 8 T20s at an average of 22. He also has 7 wickets from 6 ODIs at an average of 29. His economy is phenomenal, 6.1 in T20s and 4.7 in ODIs. Sure, he had a poor PSL but why didn't he play a single game in the Asia Cup?



I know there are many more examples that I can include here. There is an endless list. But the above is enough to understand that Pakistan's selectors are mindless and totally incapable of maintaining any sort of continuity.

Can someone please explain why Pakistan's selectors and team management are so inept? Why are they incapable of understanding something as basic as performance? Why can't they differentiate across formats? Do they not understand cricket that well? Do they not understand a player's temperament and ability in each format? What are the basis for the decisions they make? Why is there no accountability for the school-boy errors they make on a continuous basis? Why do they make decisions based on emotions rather than logic, rationale, and performance? Does no one look at the data?

It really makes me wonder if Pakistan's selectors have any sort of sense at all.

Imran Farhat, Shahzaib Hasan, Awais Zia, Imran Nazir ... Pakistan has had a number of mediocre openers in the past. The list is endless.

But there have been none worse than Khurram Manzoor.

Just like Sami has for the bowlers, Khurram has set the bar really really low for Pakistan's openers!

If reports of Ahmed Shehzad being recalled for the World T20 to replace Khurram are true, then I could not have woken up to better news.

Sure Shehzad has had a bad year in international cricket. He has been woefully out of form. However; he did well in the PSL. If Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Latif can be selected due to their PSL performances then there was no reason to drop Shehzad in the first place.

Despite his recent bad form, Ahmed Shehzad has been Pakistan's most trusted opener, along with Mohammad Hafeez, across formats in past 6 years. There is absolutely no reason why Shehzad and Hafeez should not be opening for Pakistan across formats.

If only Pakistan's selectors smoked a little less pot and paid more attention.

As was widely expected, Azhar Ali was announced captain of Pakistan's ODI team yesterday. He was also announced as the Vice Captain of the test team, which means that he is most likely to take over as captain once Misbah retires.

Though this is Pakistan and anything can happen, this is the most likely scenario.

Azhar's elevation to ODI captain has come with scathing criticism from the public. A large proportion of the public has been criticizing Azhar Ali's strike rate, which at 39.56 in tests and 64.84 in ODIs makes for dismal reading. He averages 41 in both forms of the game, which means he can score, but the main problem seems to be with the way he scores. It is too slow for ODIs according to most people.

Azhar Ali himself knows that. He is not ignorant.

In the press conference where PCB Chairman, Shaharyar Khan, announced Azhar Ali as ODI captain, Azhar was asked the question about his strike rate. His response was:

"I am aware that my strike rate is not good. I have worked on this problem and have improved it in domestic cricket. Insha'Allah I will be able to do the same in international cricket and results will be for all to see."

Now there is a trait of a captain. To take the answer head on and respond with the confidence that he did showed to me at least that he knew what he was talking about.

Coming back to why he was selected as ODI captain.

Shaharyar Khan said "I know he hasn't played ODI cricket for 2 years. But in the Pentangular Cup that we conducted he was very impressive. His batting and captaincy were both impressive and we felt he was the best man for the job."

Whether you agree with the choice or not you cannot take away the reasoning that has been provided by Shaharyar Khan. It is honest, according to him the right decision, and he made sure he let everyone know that.

Rarely do we see such confidence and honesty in Pakistani press conferences.

Now let's take a look at whether Azhar's and Shaharyar Sb's statements hold any weight or not.

Pentangular Cup

The tournament was held in January this year and according to the PCB at the time it was a trial period for all cricketers in preparation for the World Cup.

Azhar Ali captained Baluchistan Warriors in that tournament. Baluchistan reached the final of the Pentangular Cup, and even though they lost to KPK in the final, the fact that they reached there instead of the more fancied Sindh and Punjab means that Azhar Ali did play some role. You can't take that away from him.

With 302 runs in 5 innings at an average of 60.4 and a strike rate of 86.3, Azhar Ali was also the leading run scorer of the Pentangular Cup.


No one should have any complaints with that strike rate.

Azhar's 5 innings in the Pentangular Cup shows that he scored:

17 off 42 vs KPK
117 off 133 vs Sindh
75 off 92 vs Federal United
72 off 56 vs Punjab
21 off 27 vs KPK

Besides that first game, his strike rate was not an issue in any of the other matches. The innings of 72 off 56 deliveries came in a game where Baluchistan had to chase a target of 316 in 42 overs to qualify for the final and Azhar led from the front with that knock against a bowling attack that included international players like Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Talha, and Raza Hasan.

President's Gold One Day Cup

Following the Pentangular Cup there was the President's Gold One Day Cup where Azhar Ali represented his domestic department, Sui-Northern Gas.

Even in that tournament, Azhar Ali was among the runs with 234 runs in 4 innings at an average of 58.5 and a strike rate of 87.0!

Once again, no one can have any complaints with that strike rate!

Azhar's 4 innings in the Gold One Day Cup were:

0 off 7 vs Karachi Dolphins
40 off 63 vs Peshawar Panthers
57 off 81 vs National Bank of Pakistan
128 off 118 vs ZTBL

Not as impressive as in the Pentangular but impressive enough.

Azhar Ali said that he worked on his strike rate and improved it in domestic cricket and his performance in Pakistan's last two domestic tournaments pretty much proved that he has.

Shaharyar Khan said that they were impressed with Azhar's batting and captaincy in the Pentangular Cup and this also shows that they had to be.

Now the only question that remains is, will Azhar Ali be able to replicate the same form in international cricket?

For that, we will just have to wait and see.

I will be the first to admit that I am not in favour of this decision. But I will also say that now that he is at the helm, we can only get behind him and support him.

And hope that he can live up to people's expectations and bat at a better strike rate, otherwise there will be a massive trolling campaign against him, which will hold him at the pedestal that was once only for Misbah.

I don't think there are any doubts over his test credentials, but if there are just read this.

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 2-0 series win over Australia was sweet. Extremely sweet! There are so many stories within this 2-test series that I don't really know where to begin; but they all need to be told, for this series win is right up there as Pakistan's best test series victory, in my lifetime, if not ever.

When I think of Pakistan's victories in test series that I have witnessed, the greatest ones that come to mind are the ones against England '92, Australia '94, Asian Test Championship '99, South Africa '03, England '05, India '06, England '12, and this one Australia '14.

It will take time for this win to sink in and to realize how this one compares with past victories; and time will also tell the role this victory plays in shaping the future of Pakistan's test team.

However, one thing is quite clear. I don't think Pakistan has ever dominated a series the way they did this one. And that too against expectations considering that Pakistan were ranked number 6 in the world and they were up against the world's number 2 side, which was the top ranked side till a few months ago! Those lucky punters who believed in us with the bookies like Paddy Power will be rubbing their hands excitedly now too!

Pakistan completely outplayed the Australians and how.

I think that the greatest story of this 2-0 test series victory over Australia lies in the rare success of the PCB and the team management. No one could have even thought of a result like this considering that barely a few weeks ago Younis Khan had threatened to quit tests due to his sacking from ODIs and Misbah Ul Haq had stepped down from the team for the 3rd ODI against Australia due to losing all his confidence in himself.

In a situation like this with Pakistan's senior most cricketers down and out, it was PCB Chairman Shaharyar Khan' years of diplomatic service experience that came to the rescue. You can't give enough credit to Shaharyar sahab for convincing Younis to continue his test career and also for putting his weight behind Misbah at a time when the skipper was at an all time confidence low.

For a cricket board that has had leadership problems and management issues for as long as I have known it, this series will go down in history as the rare occurrence where true leadership was demonstrated by the Board. I salute you Shaharyar Sahab.

As for the new team management, this was their second series in charge. Moin Khan, Waqar Younis, Mushtaq Ahmed, and Grant Flower had got off to the worst possible start in their first series in charge in Sri Lanka a couple of months ago. The T20 and ODIs against Australia were also nothing to write home about.

The tests against Australia however were a different story altogether. Younis Khan has publicly acknowledged the effort that Grant Flower put in with him. The success of Pakistan's batting line up, in a series where Australia's world beating batsmen failed, also lies in the work that Grant Flower has put in.

Sarfraz Ahmed has had a marvellous year with the gloves and the bat. Moin Khan deserves a lot of credit for not only Sarfraz' inclusion in the team, but also for the confidence Moin has had in his abilities for a long time now.

Zulfiqar Babar and Yasir Shah combined to take 28 Australian wickets in the 2 tests. Prior to this series, Babar had played all of 2 tests for Pakistan, while Yasir had played none. They did have tonnes of first class experience, but this series was no domestic game, it was against the mighty Australians and both the spinners exploited the Aussie weakness against spin to great effect.

It was a big ask in the absence of the more experienced Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman, yet both Zulfiqar and Yasir stood up and performed like champions, and I believe some credit must go to the spin consultant, Mushtaq Ahmed, who has been working behind the scenes with Pakistan's spinners.

While Pakistan's batsmen and spinners dominated the series, the pacers, Imran Khan and Rahat Ali, both with very little international experience, also performed their role to great effect. Both of them provided crucial breakthroughs in both the tests and their reverse swing was noteworthy, especially compared to the Australian pacers, who were pedestrian at best.

Every time Waqar Younis gets involved with the Pakistan team, the pacers tend to pick up their performance. Whether it is as bowling coach, or head coach, Waqar has always had a positive impact on the team, and more so, on the fast bowlers. This time is no different. He made a difference when Rana Naveed was part of the team; he did it with Umar Gul, Mohammad Aamer, and Mohammad Asif; and now he has done it with Imran Khan and Rahat Ali.

I know that everything looks good when the team performs. It makes the captain look good, it makes the team management look good, and it makes the board look like a professional unit. There may be little chunks here and there that need ironing out, but for Pakistan, this leadership and management seems to be coming together well, and at the right time considering that the World Cup is right round the corner.

Praising the leadership will be incomplete without a word or two about Misbah Ul Haq. Anyone in power is prone to criticism and being Pakistan's captain makes you even more vulnerable. Every single move is scrutinized and every little mistake is admonished as if one has committed a grave sin. With Misbah, it is no different.

For the past 3 years, Misbah has been criticized by former players, his own players, and the large fan base of Pakistan cricket. He has had supporters too, but he has heard his fair share of criticism for a number of things - for the way he bats, for the way he leads, for the players he supports, and for really everything he does on the field.

The pressure on Misbah, particularly during this year, has been immense. The losses have hurt, and the loss of his own form has hurt even more. One of Misbah's great strengths has been his performances under pressure. Hell, he took over the team when they were going through the worst crisis in their history; if that is not absorbing pressure and leading then I don't know what is.

The pressure never really did get to Misbah. Or so I thought. He seemed to soak it all in, ignore the critics, and continue in the way he thought best. But he finally crumbled. He buckled under pressure after a number of losses for Pakistan and batting failures for him, and he decided to sit out of the last ODI of the series against Australia.

For a captain to sit out of a match because he has no confidence left and he feels the team will be better off without him should result in the end of a captaincy career.

Not for Misbah though.

To come back from that to lead the team to its first test series win over Australia in 20 years, whitewash the Aussies and dominate them like they were some minnow, score twin centuries in the same test, and smash the fastest century ever in test cricket is nothing short of remarkable!

Misbah came back from the ditch and at the end of the series stood tall as the most successful captain in Pakistan's test history, along with Imran Khan and Javed Miandad.

The series win over Australia and the largest ever win for Pakistan in terms of runs was a rare occurrence, but so was the success of Pakistan cricket's leadership.

It is not often that men running the Pakistan Cricket Board are praised, because more often than not their acts, statements, selections, and management is so unprofessional that one wonders what these people have done in life besides being friendly with those running the country.

Ijaz Butt's term as PCB chairman will probably be remembered as the worst phase of cricket in Pakistan ever.

I don't know of any other Chairman, under whom the cricket team, went through so many scandals. Nor do I know any other Chairman who gave out so many absurd statements to the media.

And he didn't stop after his term ended.

Ijaz Butt continues to entertain the media and us with such silly statements. His latest is about the rift between Misbah Ul Haq and Mohammad Hafeez. Ijaz Butt has claimed that the coach Dav Whatmore and Pakistan's T20 skipper Hafeez have formed a nexus and are bullying Misbah.

What nonsense seriously.

Firstly, Misbah has continuously denied reports of a rift between himself and Hafeez. He denied it from South Africa, he denied it when he landed in Pakistan, and he denied it in the joint press conference that he had with Hafeez yesterday.

Secondly, Ijaz Butt, as always makes no sense.

“Both Whatmore and Hafeez support and back each other since the latter was named T20 captain and that has put great pressure on Misbah, affecting his performance”

How has Misbah's performance been affected exactly?

Someone pls tell Butt sahab that Misbah was the leading run scorer in the recently concluded ODI series against South Africa. He not only topped the runs charts, he topped the averages, and also played a match winning knock in the 4th ODI of the series.

“Misbah by winning the title of the best batsman in the Super Eight T20 stage has proved his talent as a fine T20 player and I feel that injustice was done to him when he was replaced by Hafeez as captain. Misbah-ul-Haq should again be made captain of the T20 team in place of Hafeez”

Right then.

Sure Misbah was the best batsman on show in the just concluded Super 8 T20 Cup, but when asked repeatedly by reporters about making a comeback to the T20 side Misbah said that he has no intentions to play T20 cricket for Pakistan at all.

So when he himself does not want to play T20 cricket for Pakistan, who are you Butt sahab to demand that he be made captain of the team.

Someone please also tell Butt sahab the fine bowling talent that was on show during the FB Super 8 T20 against whome Misbah plundered all those runs.

"If a change in T20 captaincy was imperative, all-rounder Shoaib Malik could be a better choice for the post"

Thank the lord that Butt sahab is not the Chairman any more. What has Shoaib Malik really done in recent times to deserve the captaincy of Pakistan's T20 team?

Does Butt sahab not remember the disaster that Pakistan's team was when Malik was made captain?

“They should have assessed Younis’ performance in the ongoing One-day Cup before making a decision against him,” 

And what about all those continuous failures at the international level?

Does failing regularly in ODIs and coming back to domestic cricket and scoring heavily mean that you don't deserve to be dropped?

Has Butt sahab ever thought of the idea that someone might be really good against average bowling in domestic cricket but not good enough for the world stage?

You are a joke Butt sahab.

I reckon he is in need of a communications manager. He needed one when he was heading the PCB and he definitely needs one now. In fact I think he should hire a full fledged communications agency. They will make his life a lot better, ensure that he makes only wise statements in front of the media, and also make sure that he is well versed regarding the topic he is going to talk about. Not only that but they will also enhance his own image.

Do it Butt sahab. Do it!

Salim Malik.

The man was an artist.

I think he was one of the shrewdest minds to have played the game. One of the smartest batsmen ever. A man who made batting look like an art.

Besides Sachin Tendulkar, no one mastered Shane Warne the way Salim Malik did. His 237 against Australia in Rawal Pindi in 1994 still remains as one of the finest knocks by a captain. The score is the 2nd highest score (behind Wally Hammond's 240) by a captain against Australia. Malik's average of 92 in tests that he captained against Australia is still the highest average among captains in tests against Australia.

Moreover, Malik's record as Pakistan's captain is exceptional with a test win % of 58.33, which is only bettered by Waqar Younis and Rashid Latif. While his ODI win % of 64.7 is also one of the highest among Pakistan captains bettered by only Intikhab Alam (in 3 matches) and Shoaib Malik (majority against minnows).

But all these reasons is not why I believe that Salim Malik was an artist or the shrewdest batsman to play the game.

It is because of his single handed ability to dictate terms on the pitch, direct an entire innings, and orchestrate the outcome of a match.

Salim Malik was impeccable.

Typically batting at number 4 or 5, Malik would more often than not score healthy 40s, 50s, and scores in excess of that.

He was even more efficient in chases.

While Malik was at the crease, Pakistan always remained at par with the required run rate. At time above it, but never really too far below it.

Malik would ensure that he batted for a good part of Pakistan's innings, scored at a reasonable rate, and hogged the strike while stealing singles of the last ball of every over.

It was as if he was toying with the opposition's bowlers and fielders.

Little did anyone know that he was toying with his own team.

During the course of his well grafted innings, Malik always ensured that he got at least one batsman run out. He also skilfully ensured that the batsman at the other end took over the responsibility to get quick runs, while he remained at the crease saving his wicket for the end.

Since he was captain and also the senior most members of the side, he easily demanded that.

While Malik would continue with his knock, batsmen at the other end would perish while trying to up the tempo, or would get run out due to calculated calls made by Malik.

Malik would continue to bat till most of the batsmen were back in the pavilion, and with 50 odd runs still to get, he would also throw his wicket away leaving the task of finishing the game on the tailenders.

He did this repeatedly over a period of 3-4 years in the mid 90s.

Salim Malik was the best orchestrator of a loss the game of cricket has ever seen.

He was a true artist who had perfected the art of batting and controlling an innings.

The game has never seen anyone like Salim Malik.

And now he wants to become the coach of the Pakistan national team.

I can't help but think what that would do to the extremely talented batsmen that are Pakistan's future. Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, and Nasir Jamshed surely require grooming, but do we really want them to be coached by Salim Malik?

Do we want more artists?

Do we want batsmen who master the art of losing games for Pakistan?

We definitely do not.

There is absolutely no reason why the PCB should even give a little bit of notice to the application put forward by Salim Malik.

Keep him away please!

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

Rs. 4.5 million in exchange for an NOC to play for Hampshire in the Friends Life T20 in England.

Not a bad deal I think.

I don't know the worth of Afridi's Hampshire contract, but anything above £32,000 means that Afridi will make a profit at the end of his stint. Hampshire have still got 10 league games to play in the tournament and more depending on how far they qualify. Surely he will make a lot more than £32,000.

What caught my attention the most, however, was the speed with which the settlement was reached.

Sure Afridi left no stone unturned and even reached out to the President's 21 year old son in London. For what exactly, I am not sure but I guess Bilawal Bhutto has some influence over the Pakistan president, who also happens to be the Patron of the PCB.

I think Afridi beat Ijaz Butt at his own game. The one thing Ijaz Butt has had going for him is the support of the Pakistan president.

And Afridi just showed that he's got more of that support.

Younis Khan fought endlessly and silently against the PCB for 10 long months before returning to the team.

Mohammad Yousuf has tussled with the PCB and left the team and returned so many times that I have lost count.

Shoaib Malik's and Danish Kaneria's issues with the PCB are still pending and both players continue to miss out on international duty.

Zulqarnain Haider is another player whose case has been going on forever.

On top, Mohammad Ilyas, the selector who got involved in the Afridi vs PCB war, remains suspended.

And on the other side we have Afridi who refuses to apologise, refuses to play international cricket under the current board and management, yet he got what he wanted - the permission to play for Hampshire.

It cost him Rs. 4.5 million but still he managed to garner support from political figures, as well as, the general public - something that many of his peers could not manage.

So how much political clout does Shahid Afridi really have?

Sure the case with the PCB will continue into the longer term, but with a view on short term gains, Afridi has definitely walked out with the upper hand.

Player ho to aisa!

Well Pitched has been a massive supporter of Shahid Afridi for a long time now - not only for Afridi the cricketer, but Afridi the captain. We wrote about how well Afridi captained domestic sides in Pakistan, we wrote about how he should have been made captain long before he was, we wrote about why he is Pakistan's most valuable player, and a whole lot more.

Need I say more?

Ijaz Butt has single handedly destroyed Pakistan cricket since he took over as Chairman. He destroyed Mohammad Yousuf's career, tried to finish off Younis Khan's, and now he's on to Shahid Afridi.

This can't go on!

Shahid Afridi should be back in the Pakistan team, and he should be back where he belongs - as captain of the ODI and T20 teams.

How can you take the captaincy away from a man who has won you ODI series, who captained the team to the World Cup semifinals against all odds, who brought together a team that was down in the dumps with scandal after scandal?

It is simply wrong!

Enough is enough and Ijaz Butt needs to go!

Yes we all heard that the ICC gave the PCB an ultimatum about cleaning up their act and getting their house in order.

But what exactly has the PCB been up to since then?

A lot for sure, but why have we, the general public, been kept in the dark?

First Kamran Akmal was not selected for the series against South Africa. Initially there was news about an appendicitis operation, but then even when he was fit, and Haider ran away, the senior Akmal was not selected.

Even Akmal was unsure as to why he was not selected and he requested the ICC for information on whether he was under any suspicion regarding spot fixing. The ICC gave him a letter clearing him!

Then there was the Danish Kaneria issue. A day before the test players were to fly out to the UAE for the series against South Africa, the PCB disallowed Kaneria from joining the team.

Why!?

And then came the news that the ICC has asked the PCB to not consider Kamran Akmal, Danish Kaneria, and Shoaib Malik in the initial pool of 30 players for the ICC World Cup!

Why!?

Yes we all know that there are suspicions regarding match fixing or spot fixing, but what exactly are those suspicions? Does the ICC have have reservations or the PCB? Do any of them have any evidence? Why are there conflicting reports every where? Why aren't the PCB or the ICC coming out in the open and publicly telling us what is going on? Why is everything going on behind closed doors?

Yes, we would like to see Pakistan cricket cleaned up, but whatever is being done regarding it, I believe the general public deserve the right to know.

The latest news now is that the PCB's integrity committee has grilled Akmal, Malik, and Kaneria and has asked them certain questions - what questions!?

We deserve answers!

Not from the players, but from the PCB and the ICC!

The last time 7-8 of the top cricketers from Pakistan were banned and fined at the same time, it was due to links with match fixing.

“I know one of these players has been involved in fixing matches while the other has used drugs”