Pakistan needs a new ODI team, and it needs one now.

All talk of the Champions Trophy being an important tournament and that major changes should not be made before it, but after it, is all Bull.

This can't go on.

It should be a criminal offence to keep players like Nasir Jamshed, Umar Akmal, and Asad Shafiq on the bench. Nasir played the first 3 ODIs, Asad played only the first, and Umar played none!

Younis Khan and Shoaib Malik have to go

There is absolutely no way that Misbah or Whatmore or anyone within the PCB and team management can justify the exclusion of these players while Younis Khan and Shoaib Malik continue to enjoy a "no questions asked" run in ODIs for Pakistan.

Umar Akmal is currently Pakistan's top ranked ODI batsman and the only Pakistan batsman in the Top 20 of the ICC Rankings. Yet he fails to find a place in the team.

In his last 20 ODI innings, Umar Akmal has scored 618 runs at an average of 36.35 with 7 fifties.

How does anyone with that sort of record in the last year find himself out of the team?

Compare that to the last 20 ODI innings of Younis Khan and Shoaib Malik and one can't help but curse Misbah and Whatmore for keeping Pakistan's future on the bench and playing players who are well past their prime in ODI cricket.

Younis Khan: 420 runs at an average of 22.11 with 3 fifties.
Shoaib Malik: 318 runs at an average of 18.70 with 0 fifties.

Moreover, the problem with both Younis and Malik is not a recent one, which is why it pisses me off even more to see them part of Pakistan's ODI set up.

Younis has never been a good ODI player. His test credentials are unmatchable, but as number 3 in ODIs for Pakistan he has largely been a failure. A career average of 31 and only 6 centuries in over 250 ODIs for your country while batting at number 3 does no justice to a player of Younis' caliber.

I reckon he should have left ODIs a long time ago. Or should have been asked to leave.

Malik's is a different story. He has just not been the player that he used to be. Once an amazing ODI batsman for Pakistan, he seems to have lost the plot.

The last time Shoaib Malik scored anything more than 40 was his 128 against India in September 2009. That is his only fifty plus score in the past 3.5 years, and since then Malik has been an utter failure and deserves to be dumped into oblivion.

Misbah Ul Haq Needs to Move on as well

There is no doubt that Misbah has done a great job captaining Pakistan since the time he took over in 2010 right after the spot fixing scandal. However, this great job has been done in test cricket.

It was a regressive step to make Misbah captain of the ODI and T20 team and take the reigns away from Afridi and it has been a regressive period for Pakistan's ODI team ever since.

I would be the first one to agree that Misbah has played a tremendous role anchoring innings after innings in ODIs while wickets fall around him, however he is not good for the ODI team. We need young and fresh legs, we need our future batsmen to be playing more ODIs, and we need to build a team that can be competitive in 2015 because no matter how hard Misbah tries there is no way he will be playing a World Cup at 41 !

Even if he was winning ODI after ODI for Pakistan, I would strip him off the ODI captaincy just for keeping talent like Umar, Asad, and Nasir on the bench.

Shahid Afridi's Time is also Over

I have been Afridi's biggest supporter over the past decade and it is very hard for me to say this but his time is also over. I have always believed that Afridi, first and foremost, is a bowler; and whatever he does with the bat should be considered a bonus.

And his bowling is no where close to the level it used to be at a year ago. He has lost his magic charm and his ability to pick wickets regularly. He was the best bowler in ODIs in the world for 5 years, but he no longer is.

I do not want to speculate the reasons why, but its obvious that age is catching up and he doesn't pose any threat to international batsmen any more. And he surely can't continue playing as a batsman.

He found batting form during this series against South Africa, but that's enough to keep him in the team.

I know it will break millions of hearts to see Afridi leave the game, but I guess he can continue entertaining us in Pakistan colors in T20s and in the various T20 leagues around the world.

Other Players who Should not be Playing ODIs for Pakistan

Imran Farhat, Kamran Akmal, and Umar Gul are also players that need to be forgotten once and for all.

I fail to understand how Gul has managed to play for Pakistan for a decade! He is at best a super T20 bowler, but in ODIs, and even in Tests, he has barely delivered.

Kamran Akmal is probably the most debatable out of all the players mentioned given that he is finally finding some batting form, but Pakistan have also stuck with him for much longer than they should have.

It is time to find and groom a new wicket keeper who is also an effective batsman. Or a good batsman who is also an effective wicket keeper.

Imran Farhat is pretty useless and has hardly looked like an international opener, yet he is another player who has been around for over a decade for no reason at all. Yes he scored 93 but he tried his best to get out multiple times during that innings; he also consumed 140 odd deliveries and no it wasn't a test match!

With openers like Nasir Jamshed and Ahmed Shehzad around, Imran Farhat should be no where close to the squad, let alone the XI.

The Champions Trophy is coming and all these changes need to be made before that. Fans going to London to watch the last edition of the tournament, after getting tickets from places like the Big Ticket Shop, do not want to be left disappointed be seeing the same names fail game after game.

In the next part, I will discuss the players who can potentially replace these over-the-hill-cricketers in ODIs for Pakistan.

In one of my many conversations on facebook, I mentioned that Australia had been outplayed by Pakistan during the home series held in England.

One of my Pro-Australian friends differed and said that the statement was true if only I had added "given the amount of test cricket Pakistan had played against quality opposition".

Fair enough I thought.

My statement was based on the fact that the tour results show 3 wins for Pakistan and 1 for Australia.

So surely Pakistan were the better team winning the T20 series 2-0 and drawing the test series 1-1.

So then, were Australia outplayed?

I dug into some statistics relating to the two tests; yes the series was drawn but a comparison of player to player performances shows a startling revelation.

Pakistan's top 6 batsmen scored more runs than Australia's; the difference is almost a 100 runs with the Pakistanis averaging 28.6 per batsman per innings, 4 runs more than the Aussies.

Salman Butt was the top scorer in the series and the only batsman on both sides to average over 50.

Now that is some statistic considering that the series involved the likes of Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey, and Simon Katich!

The difference between the top order batsmen is even more glaring with the Pakistani top 3 - Salman Butt, Imran Farhat, and Azhar Ali - scoring 150 more runs in 4 innings than their Aussie counterparts - Simon Katich, Shane Watson, and Ricky Ponting.

The opening partnerships show the difference between the starts that both the teams got in the 4 innings they played. While the Salman and Imran averaged 42 per innings as a pair, Katich and Watson averaged only 26.

The biggest difference between the two teams, however, is in the bowling performances.

The Pakistan trio of Mohammad Aamer, Mohammad Asif, and Umar Gul accounted for 30 of the 40 Australian wickets to fall during the test series. They tormented the Aussies at the crease and they have the statistics to show for it!

An average of just under 23 among the 3 of them and a strike rate of 42.9; the Pakistanis picked up an Australian wicket almost every 7th over.

In comparison, the Aussie trio of Doug Bollinger, Ben Hilfenhaus, and Mitchell Johnson did so every 10 overs. Australia's pace battery could manage only 16 wickets over the 2 tests - a stark difference to what their Pakistani counterparts managed.

Shane Watson was the best bowler on both sides picking up as many wickets as Aamer and Asif; however at a much cheaper rate.

But the problem with Australia lied in the fact that their top 3 pacers could not do what the Pakistanis could - pick wickets up at regular intervals.

So then, were the Australians outplayed during the test series or not?

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

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

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

Can you believe that?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Does anybody see the logic in this?

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

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

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

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

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

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

It is high time!

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

Pakistan lost 6 wickets in the morning session yesterday; Sri Lanka lost 5 today.

Are the batsmen not getting proper sleep?

Yesterday morning was just a poor execution of batting skills against a new swinging red cherry.

This morning, however, the Sri Lankans were outsmarted by a rejuvenated Umar Gul.

After a lacklustre performance in the first test, Gul completely redeemed himself this morning with a top performance that got him 3 wickets, including the all important one of King Sanga.

Saeed Ajmal bowled non-stop during this session, and bowled well; it surprised me though that Mohammad Aamer was given only 4 overs this morning.

Aamer should have had a couple of wickets; if only Khurram had safer hands and some other edges had flown to the fielders, but I believe Younis should have bowled him more.

But then with 5 wickets, Pakistan has done well and somewhat brought themselves back into this game so I wouldn't argue against Younis Khan's tactics.

History would tell you that 150 would be a more than enough lead for Sri Lanka, but NC has different ideas.

A good Colombo morning for the Pakistanis after the nightmare yesterday.

In fact the last time Sri Lanka won a test match against Pakistan at home, many of Pakistan's squad members were in their diapers; while some had not even come into this world.

That is an intriguing statistic, considering that Sri Lanka have beaten Australia, South Africa, India, and England at home in a test series in the last decade.

So what has kept Pakistan from losing a test match in Sri Lanka?

The last time they were there in 2006, Shoaib Malik's magnificent rearguard as opener saved Pakistan a test, while Mohammad Asif, in his pre-doping days, won another with his wily swinging deliveries.

Pakistan won that 2-test series 1-0.

In their tour prior to that in 2000, it was Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis who bowled Pakistan to victory in the first 2 tests before rain played spoilt sport in the 3rd.

Both of Pakistan's test series wins in Sri Lanka in this decade have come through pace and swing.

That is another intriguing statistic considering that Sri Lanka largely rely on their spinners and prepare pitches to suit the same.

This time round however, Pakistan do not possess the guile of a Mohammad Asif, nor the pace and skill of a Wasim Akram or Waqar Younis.

Umar Gul has been a revelation on T20Is, and has had some success in ODIs, but in test matches he is yet to produce a magical spell or two since his 5-for against India in Lahore in 2005.

While the other two pacers, Mohammad Aamer and Abdur Rauf, are yet to play a test match.

Hence, I doubt pace will be the key for Pakistan in this series.

On the spin front, Danish Kaneria has been a disappointment in my books; Saeed Ajmal is another member of the bowling attack who is yet to play a test match.

With such an inexperienced attack, Pakistan is going to find it tough to keep their test record in Sri Lanka intact.

I'm not sure what Pakistan's team composition is going be like, but going by what has happened in the past, I believe Khansahab is right in saying that they need to play all 3 pacers in Gul, Aamer, and Rauf.

That would leave space for only 1 spinner and I reckon it should be Ajmal.

But then Pakistan will be going in with as many as 3 debutant bowlers.

Wise or not, you tell me?

The batting doesn't seem to be a worry in my view.

Salman, Khurram, Younis, Yousuf, Misbah look like a solid line up on paper; they have it in them to deliver as well.

Barring Salman, all are very good players of spin; countering Murali and Mendis will not be a problem for them.

The number 6 spot is where the question mark is - Shoaib Malik, Faisal Iqbal, or Fawad Alam?

Recent form suggests it should be Fawad; continuity suggests it should be Faisal; Younis Khan's logic of not dropping seniors suggests it should be Malik.

Who will Younis go with?

I believe it is a good problem to have; either of the 3 are more than handy batsmen to have at number 6.

Come tomorrow, Pakistan will take the field for their 1st overseas test in 17 months.

That's a hell of a long time not to have toured anywhere for a test series.

Will Pakistan make the most of it and live up to their repuation in Sri Lanka?

Its up to Younis Khan to lift his troops up again for another fight.

In almost 128 overs, Pakistan's bowlers managed to pick up only 7 wickets of a Sri Lankan XI; with all due respect to them they were a second string Sri Lankan batting line up.

There was no King Sanga, no Jayawardene, no Dilshan.

Umar Gul did not play against the Sri Lanka XI; but the other pacers - Aamer, Rauf, and Razzaq did.

Only Rauf managed to pick a wicket in the two innings.

While Kaneria and Ajmal, who are expected to be the key strikers for Pakistan in the tests, bowled 63.4 overs between them and picked up a total of 3 wickets.

That does not bode well for Pakistan's spinners, or the pacers for that matter.

What are they going to do when they come up against the real Sri Lanka?

Afridi has been approached by NSW to play for their T20 team, and possibly their Sheffield Shield team as well, next season.

After Younis Khan (South Australia), Umar Gul (Western Australia), and Sohail Tanvir (South Australia), Afridi will become the 4th Pakistani player in 2 years to represent an Australian domestic side if the deal goes through.

That is good news for the allrounder, who is probably still on a high after leading Pakistan to the World T20 title.

What's next?

A higher valued IPL contract?

Possibly.

The Deccan Chargers would be kicking their behinds for canceling his contract earlier this year. If he was still on their roster, he could have represented them at the Champions League.

Irrespective, the Chargers won, Afridi won, Pakistan won, so alls well that ends well!

A brief run down history first before I get to Umar Gul.

1985: 10 wicket haul in only his 2nd test match against New Zealand.

1985-1990: enhances his repuation through leading performances against all teams.

1990: destroys Australia in Melbourne with a 11 wicket haul.

March 1992: one of the leading wicket takers of World Cup, 2 in 2 ends England's hopes.

Summer 1992: Destroys England in England with 21 wickets in 4 tests leading Pakistan to 2-1 series victory.

1990: Destroys New Zealand at home with 29 wickets in 3 tests.

1990: Picks up 9 wickets against a powerful West Indies test line up in his first test against them.

1990-92: Builds his reputation as the world's fastest bowler.

Summer 1992: Destroys England in England with 22 wickets in 5 tests leading Pakistan to 2-1 series victory.

Reporter: That was tepid. Do you think your batsmen imploded during the run chase?

Vettori: Yes.

Reporter: Both you and Sangakkara used spinners during the powerplay. What do you think they did right, that your spinners couldn't?

Vettori: We were amazed as to how the spinners got to spin the ball. I couldn't do it. How could they? I have never seen the ball spin in the first 6 overs of a match.

Reporter: Surely, you seem to have lost the plot. A couple of days ago you were casting doubts on abilities of the finest pacer in the T20 game, now you are doing the same regarding the finest spinners in the game. What happened to the Kiwi spirit?

Vettori: Ohh umm, I think Fleming took it with him.

Thanks to Ceci Masters of Ceci & Mel fame; surely one of the best photoshoppers around!

Everything clicked for them. Absolutely everything!

Here's a quick list of things that resulted in Pakistan's outstanding performance tonight.

Here a are a few pics from the presentation.

At first, Shahid Afridi seemed a bit disturbed by something he saw in the crowd.

Then Umar Gul adjusted his pyjamas while Salman Butt looked on with a strange expression.

The two wicket keepers, Brad Haddin and Kamran Akmal shared a word.Haddin probably wanted to know what Akmal's gesture on reaching his 50 meant.

Umar Gul looked surprised at why Marcus North was being so chummy with him.

But when he realised, they had a little discussion, exhanged some smiles, and then held hands.