So Shahid Afridi and Umar Akmal have been left out of the touring party for the UK where Pakistan will first play a couple of ODIs in Scotland and Ireland, and then take part in the final edition of the ICC Champions Trophy. That is going to be one action packed UK summer for Pakistan’s cricketers and all of you better get hold of your Sky Sports deals and make sure you are ready to follow Misbah and company as they take the field in Scotland, Ireland and England.

Two of my favourite cricketers are out of the team, with at least one of them not deserving the axe at all. But I’ll move on and focus on the players that have been picked.

Particularly the three newbies – Umar Amin, Asad Ali, and Ehsan Adil.

Asad Ali

I first spoke about Asad Ali when I wrote the two part piece on “Pakistan’s new ODI team”. He has an exceptional First class, List A, and Twenty 20 record, and he was the leading wicket taker in the recently concluded President’s One Day Cup Competition.

He was one of the 20 bowlers to take part in the 10-day fast bowler’s camp under the supervision of Wasim Akram, which must have helped him immensely.

He comes with 8 years of domestic experience under his belt and at 24 is still very young to have a long career for Pakistan.

Asad might end up being the largest beneficiary of Umar Gul‘s injury and with the supportive conditions in England, he could not have asked for a better opportunity to break into international cricket.

Umar Amin

Umar Amin made his ODI and Test debut in 2010 when he played in the Asia Cup and the following tour of England with no success. He has been long considered to be a talented batsman, but his record is hardly impressive.

With an average of below 40 in first class cricket and below 35 in List A cricket, I seriously do not feel that he is international material. If anything, his failure in the Asia Cup and the Tests in England in 2010 told the same story.

Yet the selectors have picked him, not only ahead of Umar Akmal, but also ahead of better domestic performers like Sohaib Maqsood, Haris Sohail, Khurram Manzoor, and Azhar Ali.

The only notable performance Umar gave this past season was his glorious 281 in the President’s Trophy that helped him to end the competition as the leading run scorer. Yet. the all the batsmen mentioned above scored more first class and List A runs than him during the past season.

I have my doubts about Umar Amin, which I hope he can prove wrong; but I really do not see him succeeding in international cricket.

Ehsan Adil

Ehsan Adil is another tall pacer in the mould of Mohammad Asif. We all saw him make his Test debut in South Africa, where he picked up Graeme Smith with his third delivery in international cricket.

Adil is one of the leading wicket takers of the past domestic season and along with Asad, Junaid, and Irfan creates a potentially dangerous pace attack for Pakistan.

He was also part of the fast bowler’s camp under Wasim Akram and will be a better bowler in England than he was in South Africa.

We all could be seeing a lot of Adil and Asad over the next 10 years.

The Squad and the XI

Pakistan’s Champions Trophy squad looks a bit bowler heavy to me with as many as 7 specialist bowlers – Junaid, Irfan, Asad, Adil, Wahab, Ajmal, Rehman! Taking the keeper, Akmal, and the “allrounder”, Malik, out leaves room for only 6 specialist batsmen with 1 of them totally unproven in international cricket.

I don’t get how a nation known to have a brittle batting line up picks a squad for a place like England (seaming conditions et al) with only 6 specialist batsmen.

With Younis Khan out of the team, Asad Shafiq will definitely get an extended run and I guess the playing XI will pick itself:

1. Hafeez 2. Farhat 3. Nasir 4. Misbah 5. Asad 6. Malik 7. Kamran 8. Junaid 9. Ajmal 10. Asad 11. Irfan

Or Asad could play at 3 and Umar Amin at 5 with one of Nasir or Farhat sitting out.

In either case, without Umar Akmal and Shahid Afridi, that looks like a very weak batting line up to me with almost no firepower. With Younis gone and Misbah vowing to play more aggressively, the batting is lacking an anchor as well.

As always, the batting has left a lot to be desired and the bowling is looking like an exciting prospect.

And as always, the selectors have amused us all once again!

Umar Akmal was dropped from Pakistan’s ODI squad for Champions Trophy to be held in England in June. What’s the reason?

He missed a few matches for SNGPL in October-November due to his brother’s wedding without notifying the team management that included Misbah, Hafeez, and coach Basit Ali, and that resulted in his exclusion from the domestic team.

That’s one story doing the rounds.

He had a clash with the SNGPL management and has since then been in Misbah’s bad books.

That is another story doing the rounds.

It doesn’t matter which one is true but once again Pakistan cricket has presented yet another case of mismanagement of talent.

How many talented players is Pakistan going to waste because they don’t have good man managers?

I agree that talent and flair is not enough to keep someone in the team, but Umar Akmal is a lot more than that.

For starters, Umar Akmal is the highest ranked Pakistani batsman in the ICC Rankings for ODI Batsmen. Not only that, but besides Misbah, Umar is the only Pakistani batsmen in the Top 20. ICC Rankings don’t lie and the biggest factor that adds to your ranking is consistency.

Secondly, Umar Akmal is Pakistan’s 3rd highest run scorer in ODIs since January 2011. Only Misbah and Hafeez have scored more runs than him during this period of over two years, but they have also played almost double the number of innings that Umar has.

Not only that, but Umar Akmal is among the top 20 run scorers in ODIs since January 2011.

Who else has performed that well for Pakistan in ODI cricket?

I am upset about Umar’s exclusion, but I am even more upset at the way it has been handled.

Coming off two successive fifties in ODIs against Sri Lanka and Australia, Umar Akmal was dropped from the playing XI for the first two ODIs against India. It made no sense to drop a batsman who had scored two fifties in his previous 3 ODI innings.

He was brought back for the final ODI against India and managed to score 25.

He was in the squad for the ODI series against South Africa but did not play even one of the five ODIs.

And now he finds himself out of the squad.

The selectors and management feel that they have smartly phased Umar Akmal out of the international team.

But all they have really done is wasted the immense talent of a player like Umar Akmal, shattered his confidence, mismanaged his career, and taken out the most explosive component of Pakistan’s batting line up for a major tournament.

How many more players are they going to waste!

Majority of the Pakistani fans are not following IPL. Most of them feel that the Pakistani players have been hard done by the BCCI and the franchises and hence it is the fans’ duty to boycott the league altogether. Some of them genuinely are not interested in cricket that doesn’t involve Pakistani players, while some just don’t like the crash-bang-whallop feel of the IPL.

It is just not cricket, they say. It is one big party.

Some even call it a farce and believe that majority of the matches are fixed.

RP Singh’s no-ball the other day in RCB’s match against CSK brought all those critics forward, calling the match and the entire league fixed.

But tell you what, even though there are no Pakistanis playing the IPL and even though it might be all fixed, I absolutely love the IPL.

What is there not to love?

The matches are exciting, the competition is intense, the adrenaline is pumping all the time, the crowd is into it every single second, there are sixes, fours, wickets, screaming fans, team owners either glowing with confidence of a victory or looking stressed when their team is losing grasp of the match, and so much more. It is absolute fun!

Where else will you find two teammates, originally from Delhi, fighting it out for Kolkata and Bangalore franchises, getting into a heated argument, only to be separated by a common Delhi teammate?

Gambhir and Kohli would have thrown a punch or three at each other if it was not for Rajat Bhatia’s interference. And I would have absolutely loved it. Eoin Morgan would have enjoyed it too.

Where else will you find the big screen on the ground flash “From Sir with Love” when Ravindra Jadeja sends the ball sailing into the crowds.

The tag of ‘Sir’ has spread like wildfire during the IPL. Something that was being used to tease Jadeja by the Twitterati and cricket bloggers has now become a trend among the cricketers and the commentators too.

All right, let’s put all fun and games aside and take a bit of a serious look at the IPL.

The Coaches

Stephen Fleming, Darren Lehmann, John Wright, Alan Donald, Steve Rixon, Waqar Younis, Wasim Akram, Tom Moody, Jonty Rhodes, Anil Kumble.

Those are prolific names. They have either been involved with or are involved with the franchises in the IPL. And they take their cricket very seriously.

The IPL provides them with a platform to enhance their coaching skills, which will come to good use when they take over international teams, and it provides the players the opportunity to learn from the best.

All those men were world class cricketers who have tons of experience to pass on to players.

One just had to see Allan Donald give the Pune Warriors a briefing during the strategic timeout in the game against CSK to understand how passionately involved with the game he was.

Opportunities for New Talent

The presence of Ricky Ponting, Jonty Rhodes, Anil Kumble, and Sachin Tendulkar in the Mumbai dressing room would be an awe inspiring one for the likes of Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik and all those fringe players in the team.

What they can learn by just listening to the legends is immense.

No other platform will provide young international players like Kevin Cooper, Chris Morris, Steve Smith, Aaron Finch and Mitchell Marsh the sort of exposure that the IPL does.

The intensely competitive matches can only bring out the best in these players and constantly playing under pressure enhances their capabilities to no end.

The same can be said for the young Indian cricketers aspiring to play for their national team. Rayudu, Mayank Agarwal, Rahane, Manprit Juneja, Vinay Kumar, Shahbaz Nadeem are just some of the names of talented cricketers that are rubbing shoulders with international stars at the IPL.

Undoubtedly, they are learning and giving it their all to impress the right people to stake a claim at international cricket.

International players have to be at their best

Since the teams can play only 4 foreign players, all the international players have to be at their best in every single game.

The competition for each place in the XI is extremely high, which makes these international cricketers give their best, increasing the overall performance levels.

Brendon McCullum, who is arguable one of the most explosive batsmen in T20 cricket is finding it difficult to break into KKR’s XI because of the presence of Kallis and Morgan.

CSK can play only 4 out of Michael Hussey, Faf du Plessis, Dwayne Bravo, Albie Morkel, Chris Morris, Ben Laughlin, Dirk Nannes, Nuwan Kulasekara, Ben Hilfenhaus and Akila Dananjaya. How do you leave any of them out? Besides a couple, all the rest are sure starters for their international teams!

Have you seen the Catching?

Even if every game is fixed, the catches can’t be! There is no excuse for missing out on the absolutely magical catches that some of the players have pulled off in this IPL. There have been many, with probably Pollard and Ponting standing out. Ponting more so because it was off the bowling of Harbhajan and watching the two celebrate together was unreal.

The skills on display are just beautiful. IPL is cricket entertainment at its best.

76 matches are played every season and I reckon at least 50 of them are decided in the final over, out of which 20 or so off the final delivery. That is excitement to the core.

The best part about the IPL is that you don’t really have to support any team, which for an neutral cricket fan, makes watching the game even more fun as you can just purely enjoy the cricket!

I had just as much fun watching Jadeja smash 16 off the final over to win a game for CSK, as I did while watching Allan Donald celebrate like a kid when Marsh and Dinda wrecked CSK’s chase. It is just fun cricket.

How can you not watch it?

So what if there are no Pakistanis playing?

So what if it doesn’t test you the way Test cricket does?

So what if Dhoni has to win every time?

Forget about these minor issues and don’t miss the annual cricket fun fair I say. It is an absolutely magnificent extravaganza!

While Afridi was at his peak bowling form during 2010 and 2011, I thought this was inevitable. I was sure that he would be playing till the 2015 World Cup.

Officially, he would be only 35 by the time the next World Cup is played in Australia and New Zealand, the venue where Pakistan won their only World Cup title in 1992.

But in reality, Afridi will be close to 40 in 2015.

Can he last till then?

A few days ago was the first time that Afridi publicly stated that he has the 2015 World Cup in mind. It is still 2 years away and it will take a big turn in fortunes for Afridi to remain in Pakistan’s ODI team, given his recent performances.

Between 2007 and 2011, Afridi was the best ODI bowler in the world. But 2012 was a bad year for him, which saw him get dropped from the team for the first time since making his debut in 1996.

He has always been an unreliable batsman and though he seems to have revived some of his old six hitting form, it is his primary role in the team, which is a worry.

Afridi went wicket-less in the 5 ODIs against South Africa.

He has been wicket-less in his past 6 ODIs, in which he has bowled a total of 47 overs! 282 deliveries!

If you go back to the last time he picked an ODI wicket, it was off the final delivery of his first over in the 1st ODI against Australia in Sharjah in August last year.

Since then, he has bowled 56 overs, i.e. 336 deliveries in ODIs, without picking up a wicket.

He has also been expensive, giving away 307 runs in those overs without picking up a wicket.

In 20 ODIs since the start of 2012, Afridi has picked up only 15 wickets, 5 of which came in 1 match against Afghanistan.

That is a serious problem for a man who wants to play for Pakistan till the next World Cup.

It saddens me no end to see Pakistan’s greatest spinner so woefully out of form. It will sadden me even more if he continues playing without picking up wickets the way he used to.

An in-form Afridi is an asset no doubt, and the kind of damage he can do with the ball, and even the bat, no one can.

If only he can find that magic back, Pakistan will gladly keep him in the team till 2015. But I seriously feel it’s a tough ask.

I would really like to see Afridi play for Pakistan. I would love to see him tear apart batting line ups with his fast leggies. I would love to see him tear apart bowling attacks with his hard hitting. I would love to see fire alarm systems go off in stadiums when he shatters stumps or hits the ball to every corner of the ground. I would love to see him stand with his arms in the air. celebrating a wicket.

I would love to see him stand with his arms in the air celebrating a World Cup win for Pakistan.

But before all that, I would simply love to see Afridi take wickets again.

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 please 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 whom 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!

In Part 2 of “Pakistan’s new ODI team”, I am going to talk about those players that should make up Pakistan’s ODI squad.

New ODI Captain: Mohammad Hafeez

With Misbah out of the picture, which should be forced by the PCB if Misbah does not do it himself, Pakistan will need a new ODI captain. And I think the obvious choice is Mohammad Hafeez.

Hafeez has led the T20 team with reasonable success and has shown that he can carry the batting with responsibility as well when leading the side. He showed that during the T20 World Cup, in the series against India, and the only T20 against South Africa.

There is no doubt in my mind that he should be leading the ODI team as well. He has got ample captaincy experience in domestic cricket and has also been among the think tank of Pakistan’s international sides for the past 3 years along with Misbah and Afridi.

His role as opener is debatable given his recent failures and despite the fact that he has been Pakistan’s most successful opener since the heydays of Saeed Anwar. His exact role in the batting line up will be clearer as I outline the other players that should be drafted into Pakistan’s ODI squad.

The OPENERS: Nasir Jamshed, Ahmed Shehzad, Azhar Ali

Nasir Jamshed

Nasir Jamshed is one for the future and I still can’t believe that Misbah and Whatmore decided to dump him after 3 ODIs against South Africa.

Don’t forget this was the first time in his life that Nasir was batting outside the subcontinent. We need to be more patient with the ones that have been earmarked for the future. Nasir needs to open for Pakistan in every game and he needs to be given the license to play his natural form of attacking cricket.

Ahmed Shehzad never deserved to be dropped when he was from the ODI team in 2011. He paid the price for being part of the “Shahid Afridi camp” and has remained out of favour with Misbah, much like Umar Akmal.

There have been talks about disciplinary issues and attitude problems, again like Umar Akmal, but he is too good a talent to be wasted because of all that. Why can’t we have better management to take care of these so called disciplinary issues?

After all, Shoaib Akhtar managed to play for 15 years. Who can be a bigger disciplinary headache than he was?

Ahmed Shehzad

As an 18-year-old, Shehzad began his ODI career with solid 40s in 2 ODIs against Australia in 2009. When he returned to the team later, he formed a solid opening partnership with Hafeez. Having made another comeback, albeit in T20s once Hafeez became captain, Shehzad has shown what Pakistan has been missing.

There can’t be a better partner for Nasir than Ahmed Shehzad at the top of the order for Pakistan.

Azhar Ali is considered slow and not one suited for ODIs, but I beg to differ. He has a very good ODI record and averages over 40 in the 14 ODIs that he has played for Pakistan. He is not an attacking player but yet extremely solid and Pakistan can do with his services with Misbah and Younis out of the picture.

I would not select him to open ahead of Nasir or Shehzad, but under certain circumstances, Azhar can be preferred, especially if the team requires someone to hold one end up and bat out 50 overs.

Azhar should be in Pakistan’s ODI squad as the reserve opener and his case has been further strengthened by his recent performance in the just concluded Faysal Bank ODI Cup where he was 5th highest run scorer with 336 runs in 7 innings at an average of 67 and a healthy strike rate of 74, with 1 century and 2 fifties.

The MIDDLE ORDER: Umar Akmal, Asad Shafiq, Haris Sohail, Sohaib Maqsood

Umar Akmal

I have already said it, but I will say it again – Misbah should be made to pay for keeping Umar Akmal and Asad Shafiq on the bench in South Africa. Umar is by far Pakistan’s best ODI batsman and has been for the past 3 years, while Asad was in the form of his life during the Test series against South Africa and looked like the most accomplished batsman on tour.

How these two cannot make it to Pakistan’s playing XI is bemusing to say the least.

The other two batsmen that I would like to see drafted in and made permanent fixtures are Haris Sohail and Sohaib Maqsood.

Haris Sohail has been part of Pakistan’s squad several times during the past 1 year and was unlucky to leave the South Africa tour midway due to injury. He has been the best batsman in domestic cricket for the past several seasons and deserves to be given a long run in the middle for Pakistan.

Sohaib Maqsood, a 25-year-old hard hitting batsman from Multan, is relatively unknown but he has had a major resurgence as a batsman in the past season. And he is a more than decent off-spinner as well.

Sohaib was the leading batsman in the just concluded Faysal Bank ODI Cup, notching 475 runs in only 6 innings with 1 century and 3 fifties at a mind-boggling average of 95 and strike rate of 112! Sohaib’s List-A career gives an impressive reading as well: 26 matches, 972 runs, average of 46, strike rate of 97, 1 century, 6 fifties.

He also has an impressive first class record with over 2,700 runs in 42 matches at an average of 43, with 6 centuries and 18 fifties.

Given the form he is in, Sohaib should walk right into Pakistan’s ODI team. In his most recent List-A match, he knocked his first List-A century in a whirlwind knock of 156 off only 95 deliveries including 10 sixes and 13 fours.

FILE PHOTO: Anwar Ali

We still haven’t found an able replacement for Abdul Razzaq and with Afridi out of the team (based on my assessment), it has become even more important to find a world class all-rounder.

Hammad Azam is another player who has been harshly treated by the selectors and the team management. He hardly got to play when he was part of Pakistan’s T20 and ODI squads when he showed his immense talent, and then one fine day he found himself out of the team.

Why is it something that no one really has the answer to?

His bowling requires a lot of work and it will develop with time. It is his hard hitting batting that Pakistan require lower down the order given their longish tail. Hammad is the ideal batsman to come at number 6 or 7 in the finishing overs of an ODI and provide the sort of impetus to the innings that the likes of Razzaq have in the past.

He is a true finisher and has continuously displayed his finishing skills for Pakistan U-19 and his domestic teams.

His bowling is medium pace at best but he has the ability to pick up wickets regularly. His first class bowling record is a lot better than his List-A one, however it is an area that can be worked on and improved with time. What is more important is to draft him into the team and provide Pakistan with a lower order batsman and possible 6th bowler.

The other potential all-rounder that Pakistan will do well to invest in is Anwar Ali. The boy who rocked India’s boat in the U-19 World Cup Final back in 2006 had turned out to be quite a fine bowler and hard hitting lower order batsman.

He has played the solitary T20 for Pakistan against Zimbabwe in 2008. He was a part of the squads for the series against Australia and India but did not get another match. Both his List A and first class averages for batting and bowling are in the 20s, which show that the boy has got the potential to fill in the vacant all-rounder’s spot in Pakistan’s ODI line-up.

The SPINNERS: Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman, Raza Hasan

Abdur Rehman has found it difficult to get a game in the presence of Ajmal, Afridi, and Hafeez. With Afridi moving on (hopefully), Rehman should be considered as a starting choice to partner Ajmal and Hafeez in ODIs.

It is Pakistan’s misfortune that Rehman belongs to the same generation as Saeed Ajmal, for any other team (besides India) would kill to have the services of a bowler like Rehman.

Raza Hasan

Raza Hasan had an extremely impressive T20 World Cup, but has been out of contention due to injury since then. He needs to be promoted from T20 cricket to ODIs as well. Pakistan should focus on providing him with as much exposure as possible while Ajmal and Rehman are around for Raza is the future of Pakistan spin bowling.

The FAST BOWLERS: Junaid Khan, Mohammad Irfan, Asad Ali, Sadaf Hussain

There is no argument over the fact that Junaid and Irfan are Pakistan’s leading pacers at the moment. We need to think long and hard about the others who can support them, as I would seriously like to move on from Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz, Sohail Tanvir, Mohammad Sami et al.

Both Asad Ali and Sadaf Hussain have had very impressive domestic careers thus far.

Asad has 85 wickets in only 45 List-A games at a remarkable average of 19 and strike rate of 25.8, while Sadaf has 25 wickets in 15 matches at an average of 23 and strike rate of 30.6. Their first class records are even more impressive.

It is time that Pakistan invests in these new pace bowlers and takes us back to the times when Pakistan’s pacers used to be feared all around the world.

The WICKET KEEPER: Mohammad Rizwan

This was the toughest person to pick, largely due to the lack of talent on the domestic circuit. We have had enough of Kamran Akmal while Sarfraz Ahmed showed that he doesn’t belong to the international level, and Adnan Akmal is best suited to Test cricket.

What Pakistan need is a wicket-keeper who not only bats well but bats aggressively. That is the requirement of T20 and ODI cricket in this day and age.

The reason I have gone for Mohammad Rizwan is because he is young (only 20), has an impressive domestic record (average of 44 in first class cricket and 34 in List-A cricket), and he had the 2nd highest number of dismissals in the Faysal Bank One Day Cup.

It is time to invest in the youth.

Pakistan’s ODI Pool of Players: Mohammad Hafeez (C), Nasir Jamshed, Azhar Ali, Ahmed Shehzad, Umar Akmal, Asad Shafiq, Haris Sohail, Sohaib Maqsood, Hammad Azam, Anwar Ali, Mohammad Rizwan, Junaid Khan, Mohammad Irfan, Asad Ali, Sadaf Hussain, Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman, Raza Hasan.

If these 18 names are not part of the 30-man preliminary squad that the PCB is supposed to announce soon for the Champions Trophy, I will be disappointed.

I doubt that they will take away the captaincy from Misbah, but they really should. The argument that selecting a new team for a high profile tournament is not a wise decision, does not hold for me. The so-called senior players have failed continuously and with them there is no way that Pakistan can win the Champions Trophy, so they might as well try out some new players and provide them with much needed exposure.

Plus, Pakistan will play 2 ODIs against Ireland and 2 ODI against Scotland prior to the Champions Trophy, which are ideal to blood these new players and try out the new ODI combination.

It’s time PCB made some tough calls.

My ideal XI to start with would be: 1. Nasir Jamshed 2. Ahmed Shehzad 3. Mohammad Hafeez* 4. Umar Akmal 5. Asad Shafiq 6. Hammad Azam / Sohaib Maqsood 7. Mohammad Rizwan+ 8. Anwar Ali 9. Junaid Khan 10. Saeed Ajmal 11. Mohammad Irfan

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 nowhere 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.

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

What hit Australian cricket in the past few days, only Arthur and Clarke know, but it is by far the stupidest, funniest, and strangest reason given for banning 4 players from the 3rd Test of the series against India. The fact that the 4 players – Watson, Pattinson, Johnson, and Khawaja – were axed because they failed to turn in a presentation in time to Mickey Arthur, Australia’s coach, has become a global colossal joke.

Here is a compilation of all the quotes, jokes, and pics that I have come across regarding this once-in-a-lifetime kind of story.

“What I am confused by is that the coach of Australia asked the players for only 3 things to improve the team by.” – Michael Vaughan

“So Australia has drawn a line in the sand. An important first move for any beach cricket team.” – RD Hinds

“We need to hire Ijaz Butt again. The Aussies are taking the limelight away from us.” – A bemused Pakistan fan

“I’m surprised that’s the penalty for something so mundane. It seems like it was on a schoolboy tour or something. It’s an over the top reaction.” – Allan Border

“That awkward moment when Australia become Pakistan.” – Alternative Cricket

“From my experience report writing is not a player’s strength, no surprise to hear some failing, need to focus more on field short comings?” – Tom Moody

“Shane Watson did not submit his presentation because he did not want to risk injury through a papercut” – An Australian Fan

“Adults we are, not schoolboys! Please let’s act properly and make good decisions in India! Need these boys playing.” - Darren Lehmann

“To many wrong people are picked for jobs who give a fancy presentation!!” – Damien Martyn

“What is going on with Aussie Cricket?? Didn’t realise you had to do an essay to get a selection these days..!!!!!” – Michael Vaughan

“The Australians are looking to hire a PowerPoint Coach. Applications are to be submitted in the next 5 days via SMS, Email, PPT, or Note Under the Door to Mickey Arthur” – Well Pitched

“Asking Shane Watson to write a 100 words was unfair. He only averages 35” – Fake Richie Benaud

“To punish players for not being able to produce a PowerPoint presentation is baffling. They just haven’t done their homework and to punish them is ridiculous. They have not been out until four in the morning, they have not been jumping off ferries or putting hands through doors.” – Matthew Hoggard

“The dig ate my homework excuse was refuted by Cricket Australia on the grounds that, allegedly, Michael Clarke does not eat paper” – Mansi Shah

“‘If you want feedback listen to Hendrix’s Star Spangled Banner. I’m off to the nets’ – things the Dog Ate My Homework 4 wished they’d said…” – Mark Butcher

“Mickey Arthur: ‘This is a line in the sand.’ It’s called a crease. Behind it are are three poles: they’re called stumps … #laughingstock” – Greg Baum

“I want views of Chappelli, DK Lillee and Rod Marsh on punishments for not doing homework. This feels like a seminal moment in Aus manliness.” – Osman Samiuddin

“Will Arthur allow the 4 to play if their parents wrote apology notes and promised that they will ground the 4 for a week?” – Hemant Buch

“Pakistan players are now worried that they might be asked for a 50 page report about how they can improve their test performance” – Well Pitched

“On a positive note Ed Cowans presentation has just been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize” – Damien Fleming

“Off for a round of golf. David Lloyd is my partner playing against a couple of posh uns. Done my homework so should get selected” – Michael Vaughan

“David Warner copied his homework from Ed Cowan” – Alternative Cricket

“John Inverarity was my high school headmaster. Not once did he threaten to drop me for not doing homework during my 5 years at Hale. #Legend” – Theo Doropoulos

“Even bigger story @scgmacgill I’m batting 5 next test !!! iPad charged up PowerPoint done” – Damien Martyn

“I bet Australian fans were hoping that Xavier Doherty had also failed to comply with team orders” – Alternative Cricket

“I know Mickey Arthur is African, but must he act like Robert Mugabe?” – Fake Richie Benaud

“Shane Watson flies back to Australia and vows to enroll in a presentation skills course to make his way back into the team” – Well Pitched

“Bowl better, Bat better, Catch better, communicate better… Just bloody play better…. I am now available for Selection of Australia..!!!!!” – Michael Vaughan

“Amazing 4 Aussie players banned for not doing homework , I thought letting them play in the next test would be punishment enough #3-0india” – Andrew Flintoff

“Not really up on modern text speak, but gather that ROFL might be appropriate…” - Jonathan Agnew

“Australian cricket fans can rest easy tonight knowing the best XI powerpointers will be representing them in the 3rdtest” – Fake Richie Benaud

“At least NZ’ers get in trouble for having some proper fun (read: not fun, against team protocols, naughty boys) No homework, ha” – Iain O’Brien

“Kiwis learning Mike Hesson not such a bad option after all….” – Innobystander

“The only thing that would explain Mickey Arthur is if Ashton Kutcher jumped out of a locker with a camera crew. #punk’dthemovie” – Scotty Cummins

“Reasons for dropping Test cricketers: 1. Texting a South African, 2. Not texting a South African.” – Tickers Cricket

“Four Australians axed from the next Test for lack of texting. This must be very confusing for poor Kevin Pietersen.” – Pavilion Opinion

“Oh, so that’s what the fifth day of a Test is for? The paperwork.” – Will Anderson

“For those asking about my test team. J K Rowling is not injured but rather being rested as part of our ongoing rotation policy” – Special Grant

“In Shane Watson’s defence one other time he filled out paperwork and got a paper-cut and missed six months of cricket.” – Bretteppa

“A rare day when a patient Test 190 by Ashraful is the 2nd most unbelievable event in the Test world” – Sriram S

“I can confirm that the 4 players banned did in fact do a presentation. “Change the coach” appears to be a theme that wasn’t the right answer” – Fake Richie Benaud

* The stats are updated till 2nd March, 2013.

Very rarely do I write about something not related to Pakistan cricket. But certain matches, cricketers, and cricket related activities are so exceptional that I need to write about them. Joe Root is one such cricketer who has compelled me to find out more about him and dedicate some time in praising his exceptional start in international cricket.

Three months ago, I had not even heard of Joe Root.

I first heard about him when England announced their Test squad for India. According to the England selectors, Root’s double century in a game against Hampshire was enough to earn him a place in the squad.

Even though the 2012 domestic season was not all that productive, Root, who plays for Yorkshire, had impressed several people that mattered in 2011, when he amassed over 1,000 first class runs.

Considering that the England middle order boasted of Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Jonathan Trott, Eoin Morgan, Jonny Bairstow, and there were thoughts of using Samit Patel at number 6 in India, Joe Root was unlikely to make his international debut in India.

But he got his chance in the 4th and final Test of the series when the experiment with Samit Patel had failed and England gave the boy a game ahead of Morgan and Bairstow.

Joe Root’s first Test innings lasted 229 deliveries – the 6th longest debut innings by an England batsman in terms of number of balls. He scored a patient 73 and shared a century partnership with Matt Prior for the 6th wicket to get England out of a troubling position of 139-5.

Even then, I didn’t take much notice even though such display of patience, that too by a 22 year old, is very impressive.

Then came the ODI series against India, and Root played all 5 matches. He didn’t get to bat in the first ODI, but in his first 4 ODI innings, he produced scores of 36, 39, 57*, and 31.

Quite a start to an international career.

That innings of 57 was particularly impressive as he helped England to a total beyond 250, which they didn’t look like achieving when he walked to the crease and England were 140 odd after 37 overs. His innings came off only 45 deliveries and included 8 boundaries and a six.

Root’s success at the international level was so astonishing that it even surprised their ODI coach, Ashley Giles who went on record to say “I didn’t know he could bat as well as he has”.

That says more about Root’s performances than Giles’ knowledge of England’s cricketers.

Root has continued to impress with every game. In the 1st ODI of the ongoing series against New Zealand, he scored a solid 56 while putting on 90 runs with Trott for the 3rd wicket.

And then came the time when Root produced the best innings of his short ODI career. Chasing an imposing 270 to win in the 2nd ODI against New Zealand, England were well placed at 149-2 in 32 overs when Root walked out to bat.

From that position, the match could have been a close contest, England could have struggled to reach the target, or England could have even collapsed.

But Root’s unbeaten innings of 79 off only 56 deliveries took England to a comfortable 8 wicket win with over 2 overs to spare. Root knocked 7 boundaries and 2 sixes in his highest ODI score yet.

Root now has a tally of just under 300 ODI runs in 6 innings and is averaging a whopping 74.5!

I know its too early in his career and that he has a long way to go and he’s only 22 and what not. But that is an exceptional start to what can also be an exceptional career.

It is quite unbelievable that Root’s lowest completed international innings is 31, and that his 8 international innings have produced scores of 73, 20*, 36, 39, 57*, 31, 56, and 79*.

I doubt there was anyone out there who knew how good a batsman Joe Root was, given that he averages less than 40 in first class cricket and 36 in List A cricket.

His ODI average is double his List A average! And 3 out of his 7 List A 50s have come in ODIs.

Root has been some find for England, and considering that he has showed his batting skills in varying conditions in India and New Zealand, it looks like he has a long career ahead of him.

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – FEB 04: Dale Steyn of South Africa picks up his 11th wicket for 60 runs during day 4 of the 1st Test match between South Africa and Pakistan at Bidvest Wanderers Stadium.

The 2-day game against an Emerging Cape Cobras XI was a successful one for Pakistan as they completed a 10 wicket win and got some valuable practice as well.

Pakistan will be pleased with Younis Khan getting some runs under his belt and more importantly with him spending some time in the middle. They continued to bat after reaching their target of 58 to get some batting practice, and Younis made full use of the opportunity by knocking an unbeaten 74 and spending over 2.5 hours at the crease.

In 5 innings on tour, prior to this one, Younis had failed to score more than 15. While Hafeez, Nasir, Misbah, and Shafiq have all been among the runs on this tour, it has been the struggle of Younis and Azhar Ali  that has been a major spot of bother for Pakistan.

With Younis gaining some confidence, it leaves only Azhar Ali who is yet to score more than 15 on this tour. Azhar’s 6 innings thus far include scores of 2, 3, 13, 18, 11, and 12.

Azhar Ali has been Pakistan’s leading run scorer in Test for the past 2.5 years. Even though people believe that he has only scored on dead subcontinental wickets, it is not true as Azhar has scored runs in England, New Zealand, and the West Indies, besides the more batsmen friendly pitches of the UAE, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh.

But he is struggling in South Africa.

Many have suggested that a defensive approach will not work for him in South African conditions, especially against Dale Steyn & Co., because he is bound to get an unplayable delivery at some point, which he will succumb to after consuming many deliveries and scoring very little.

A more aggressive approach is required, but unfortunately Umar Akmal is not around. Perhaps someone like Asad Shafiq, who likes to keep the scoreboard ticking, can be pushed up the order with Azhar batting at number 6.

There have been suggestions to play Faisal Iqbal instead of Azhar Ali, largely because of Faisal’s breezy knock of 33 against the Cape Cobras. Faisal was definitely in good touch and looked in control hitting 7 boundaries in his innings. But he hasn’t played a Test for Pakistan for over 4 years, with his last appearance coming against Australia in January 2010.

There is something to think about for the Pakistan team management, but I don’t see them changing the composition of their trusted top 6. What I would do, however, is move Younis Khan up a position and ask him to bat at number 3, where he has batted for the better part of his career.

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – FEB 03: Azhar Ali of Pakistan walks off for 18 runs during day 3 of the 1st Test match between South Africa and Pakistan at Bidvest Wanderers Stadium.

Younis moving to number 4 was a good strategic decision as it helped groom Azhar Ali as a long term number 3, but in South African conditions, Pakistan will be better off using the experienced Younis at number 3 and keeping Azhar Ali back.

Given Shafiq’s current form, I would bat him at 4, followed by Misbah and Azhar.

The bowling has not been a worry for Pakistan, but a selection blunder in the first Test cost them heavily. Rahat Ali is at best a mediocre bowler, and his inclusion instead of Mohammad Irfan was inexplicable.

Everyone has been harping on about how Irfan can’t bowl long spells, won’t last 5 days, and so on. But everyone is also aware of his effectiveness. Or rather, should have been. A 7 footer bowling on South African pitches is a dream for any captain and yet Pakistan decided not to play him on fitness grounds.

Unbelievable.

How many times have we all seen Shoaib Akhtar, Shane Bond, and Brett Lee being used in short bursts of three 4-6 over spells in a day in Test matches? Their captains understood their effectiveness and limitations and used them effectively.

The same can be done with Mohammad Irfan. 4-5 overs is all that bowlers of his nature need to make an impact. It is also very easy to hide fielders in a Test, so Irfan’s energy can be easily protected.

After his performance against the Cape Cobras, it will be criminal to leave him out of the team for the second Test starting on Thursday.

I wish there was some way that Rehman could be included in the XI, but it is a luxury to play two spinners in South Africa and impossible to replace Saeed Ajmal. Despite that an attack comprising of Junaid, Irfan, Gul, Ajmal, and Hafeez presents lip licking prospects.

Beating this South African team will be a gargantuan task, but I expect a much improved show from Pakistan and a tougher fight than the one given in the first Test.

My XI for the Test: 1. Mohammad Hafeez, 2. Nasir Jamshed, 3. Younis Khan, 4. Asad Shafiq, 5. Misbah Ul Haq, 6. Azhar Ali, 7. Sarfraz Ahmed, 8. Umar Gul, 9. Saeed Ajmal, 10. Junaid Khan, 11. Mohammad Irfan.

No one really expected Pakistan to win a test match in South Africa, but no one expected them to be bowled out for 49, their lowest test score ever, either.

It is very easy to point fingers at the Pakistan bastmen and criticize them for a poor technique, bad footwork, and a lack of application.

However, one must remember that the same pace attack bowled out Australia for 47 and New Zealand for 45. When you are up against the number 1 team in the world that has a pace attack comprising of Steyn (ranked 1), Philander (ranked 2), and Morkel (ranked 9) in their own backyard, batting is really, really tough.

Pakistan’s wrecker-in-chief was Dale Steyn, who had match figures of 11-60, which is his best return ever in a career spanning 63 Test matches.

With the new ball, Steyn was unplayable. Particularly in the first innings, where he produced a devastating spell and had astonishing figures of 6-8!

Steyn’s match haul of 11-60 earned him his fifth 10-wicket haul in Test matches, which is now the most number of 10-wicket hauls for South Africa. Before this Test, he was level with Makhaya Ntini on four.

His 5-wicket hauls in each innings of the match took his tally to 21 5-wicket in an innings hauls, surpassing the South African record of 20, which was held by Allan Donald.

Steyn’s 323 test wickets are still behind those of Shaun Pollock (421), Ntini (390), and Donald (330), but he has also played a fewer number of tests than each of them. With age on his side (he is only 29), he looks well set to become the top South African wicket taker of all time.

Someone said that he has got Donald’s pace, Ntini’s fitness, and Pollock’s seam and swing, which arguably makes him the best fast bowler ever to play for South Africa.

Currently, he is also the best fast bowler in the world.

But is Dale Steyn also the best ever fast bowler of all time?

Steyn is currently at number 17 among the top 20 wicket takers of all time in Test cricket, but as I mentioned, he has played fewer tests than the rest of them and has a long way to go still.

Steyn’s strike rate of 40.8 is the best among the top 20 bowlers. Better than McGrath’s, Hadlee’s, Waqar’s, and Marshall’s. In fact his strike rate is the 5th best strike rate of all time in Test cricket, behind Lohmann, Philander, JJ Ferris, and Shane Bond.

Steyn’s five 10-wicket match hauls are level with Wasim and Waqar, and behind only those of Imran Khan, Dennis Lillee, and Richard Hadlee.

The most glaring statistic, however, is Steyn’s wickets per match. He averages 5.13 wickets per test match, which is the most that any fast bowler with over 200 test wickets averages in Test cricket.

Dennis Lillee and Richard Hadlee are the only other two fast bowlers who averaged over 5 wickets per Test match in their career.

If you include spinners into the equation, then Steyn’s 5.13 wickets per Test is the third highest, behind Muralitharan’s 6.02 and Grimmett’s 5.84.

Those truly are some outstanding numbers.

Dale Steyn may well end his career as the best ever fast bowler to have played the game.

Finally Pakistan will take the field in a Test match tomorrow. It has been a long wait since their last Test series against Sri Lanka in June-July last year. For the purists, this is Pakistan’s ultimate test. They are up against the number one Test team in the world, and one that has hardly lost a Test series in recent times. Especially at home. Pakistan are a team that has been on the rise in Test cricket for the past two years. They have lost only two of their past 10 Test series and only two of their last 18 Test matches. This record includes levelled Test series’ against Australia and South Africa.

Pakistan are ranked number 4 in Test cricket, a ranking that they have achieved through a consistent run that has been second to none.

No other team has the sort of win % that Pakistan has in Tests over the past 2 years.

The naysayers and doubters still don’t acknowledge Pakistan’s strong performance and the usual criticism is that most of their victories have come in the Subcontinent /Subcontinent type pitches and that they have played against relatively weaker opposition.

But the fact is that besides India, Pakistan have played against every single Test playing nation since the summer of 2010, and except for a 3-1 loss to England and a 1-0 loss to Sri Lanka, Pakistan has either won or drawn all other series.

Additionally, both the series’ that were lost were avenged at home when England were beaten 3-0 and Sri Lanka 1-0, with home being the UAE, which is not really home you know.

Whether those wins for Pakistan were easy or not, whether they came in home conditions or not; come tomorrow, none of it matters. This series against South Africa is going to be Pakistan’s toughest one in recent times.

Pakistan have never won a Test series in South Africa. Even the most optimistic Pakistan cricket fans are not expecting this fact to change.

But what we are expecting is a tough fight.

Pakistan will pose a significant challenge to South Africa.

They might even win a Test match.

If they manage to draw the series, it will be like a win for Pakistan.

They are up against the world’s number 1 Test team, but don’t forget that this time last year, Pakistan was also up against the world’s number 1 Test team. And we all know what happened there.

I expect this to be a cracking Test series and I can’t wait for the action to start in Johannesburg tomorrow! It is Graeme Smith‘s home town, it is Graeme Smith’s birthday, and it is Graeme Smith’s 100th Test match as captain, which is a feat achieved by no one else.

The South Africans will be celebrating Biff’s day tomorrow, and the Pakistanis are going to be trying their best to spoil the party!

With all its music, fast paced action and boundaries galore, there is a lot to love about Twenty20 cricket, but with every major cricketing nation now deploying their own domestic league along with the Champions League and the T20 World Cup, it seems that a game that only surfaced under 10 years ago could be over killed just as quickly. Twenty20 cricket was invented to attract a crowd that were not necessarily cricket lovers. Shortening the game provided more excitement in a short period of time and hence attracted a larger number of followers. However, the influx of money and fame that T20 has brought has taken the edge off Test cricket in a number of countries.

Test cricket is the origin of the game, and it seems that those who are not enjoying regular success are slipping away from it at a rate of knots. This should not be as big a concern as the ICC seem to believe. Just because countries such as India, West Indies, New Zealand and Sri Lanka no longer seem to be as concerned with the longer form of the game does not mean that exhilarating test series cannot take place. The issue comes when the world’s top teams play each other in series that are just a couple of matches long. The teams at the top of the test rankings, i.e. South Africa, England and Australia all fill their stadiums for their home test matches even when playing sides that they will beat in 4 days every time. For instance when South Africa play England or Australia, why is it not a 5-test series? Last year when South Africa played Australia at home, they played just two tests and both results could not have been more different.

It seems inevitable that test series will continue to become consistently one-sided when the top teams play the lesser sides, unlike what appears to be the case in the shorter forms of the game. Pakistan can be added to the list of sides that still appear to care about the 5-day game, and their upcoming series against South Africa will show exactly how good they are. It will be interesting to see what the cricket betting odds are for that series. India are in decline, especially away from home, where their bowling attack is average at best. India still possesses some quality batsmen and at home they have decent enough spinners to win games, but their fast bowling attack is leagues below that of Australia, South Africa and England. India’s issue in the longer format is that captain MS Dhoni does not seem that driven to succeed, unlike when he takes the field in 50 or 20-over cricket, where he is regularly in inspired form with the bat.

In the last few weeks, this issue was perfectly summed up by South Africa’s series with New Zealand. South Africa absolutely thrashed New Zealand in the test series with two crushing victories, one wrapped up in three days. Come the One Day series and New Zealand have wrapped up the win with a game to spare against an albeit under-strength Proteas unit. The question is if Test cricket can survive with just a handful of countries playing meaningful series while the others travel around the world in anticipation of the next world tournament?

This issue of how much countries care about test cricket is in exact correlation with the salaries of test cricketers from their respective boards. England, Australia and South Africa have the best-paid test cricketers, and that is why they have the fewest mercenaries. Players such as Chris Gayle and Lasith Malinga have at times dropped out of their national side in order to take part in some meaningless domestic competitions for two weeks in order to earn big bucks. Although there was the Kevin Pietersen saga last year, no English, South African or Australian test cricketers play in a multitude of foreign T20 competitions. They are prepared to rest in the breaks between test series, as they are paid well enough. With Pakistan being the last remaining country to create their own domestic T20 competition, test cricket needs to sort its act out before it is flooded out by the shorter form, as those countries who are not succeeding attempt to distance themselves from the game. Maybe the stronger nations need to pass on some cricket tips to the relatively weaker ones.

While Australia continue to chop and change their line-ups, England have decided to battle-harden their cricketers ahead of this year’s back-to-back Ashes series.

England announced their Test squad for the upcoming tour of New Zealand on Thursday and there were few surprises.

Eoin Morgan and Samit Patel have been dropped from the squad that recorded a famous win in India, while all-rounder Chris Woakes replaces the injury-plagued Tim Bresnan.

Joe Root retains his place after a whirlwind start to his international career and should make his second Test appearance in the series opener in Dunedin on March 6. What is less certain is where the talented 22-year-old will bat.

Nick Compton partnered captain Alastair Cook at the top of the order in the subcontinent and did an admirable job. However, he failed to make the opening berth his own and now has Root breathing down his neck.

Root has impressed the management team and fans alike with his temperament and technique in his short international career, and should become a fixture in the England set-up. He could enjoy a long and fruitful partnership with Cook.

Should Compton make way to accommodate Root, a place would become available in the middle-order. Since Jonny Bairstow is the only reserve batsman in the squad, he would automatically come straight in.

Bairstow struggled in his first series against the West Indies last summer but bounced back in style against South Africa at Lord’s. He was unfortunate to miss out at the start of the India tour. The Yorkshireman deserves a chance to prove his credentials.

The make-up of England’s bowling attack is more straightforward. Bresnan’s injury gives the selectors an easy decision to make, with Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, Steven Finn, James Anderson likely to take the field for the first Test against the Black Caps, if fit.

England face New Zealand five times home and away before the Australians arrive in the summer. Meanwhile, Michael Clarke‘s men travel to India for a four-Test series.

It will be interesting to see Australia’s approach, given their recent rotation policy. England’s team for the opening Test against New Zealand is likely to be the one that walks out at Trent Bridge on July 10; will Australia adopt the same approach?

The Ashes battles could come down to the survival of the fittest. Injuries and fatigue could ultimately determine the destiny of the famous urn.

For some cricket players, retirement is a time of uncertainty as many have spent their entire lives playing the game they love. However, there is indeed life after the game of cricket as many players have proven.

Whether you love him or hate him, Shane Warne is undoubtedly one of the most talented cricketers in the history of the game. There are few players that you can rank above him when it comes to bowling. It is hard to really consider Warne a “former” cricketer as he is only retired from International competition, but it appears that he is already working on his plan for life after cricket. The superstar bowler appears to have aspirations towards being a poker pro. Shane is currently sponsored by 888 poker and serves and an ambassador for the site in live and online poker tournaments. Now we can see if he can pitch cards as well as he bowls.

Jack Russell was never exactly known as a team player during his time at Gloucestershire, despite the fact that he was an outstanding wicket-keeper. His tendency to be a loner and live a very private life went hand-in-hand with his other passion, that of art. After retiring from the game, he went on to open Chipping Sodbury, a gallery where he puts his passion for art on display. In a surprise move for the famously private man, Russell took a job as a goalkeeping coach for the Forest Green Rovers football squad and even returned to Gloucestershire in 2008 to help the mentor young players. Perhaps retirement has allowed him to open up to people now that he isn’t in the public eye 24/7.

Surrey and England fans definitely remember all-rounder Adam Hollioake as he helped Surrey to three County Championships and helped England to the Sharjah Cup in 1997. After retiring from cricket in 2004, Hollioake went on to do some media work and even founded the Ben Hollioake fund to raise money for hospice care for kids. Adam also went on to run a property business in Australia but unfortunately, the business was not successful and a lawsuit from a fellow owner left Hollioake bankrupt in 2010. Adam would continue to fight on, quite literally as he tried his hand at Mixed Martial Arts. So far, he has fought one professional fight where he fought to a draw. Knowing Hollioake’s competitive nature, he will continue to keep fighting and we will be hearing great things from him soon.

In just over two weeks, Pakistan will take the field to take on the world’s number 1 Test team. The last time that happened, Pakistan finished off the series with a whitewash – a 3-0 victory over England. One can’t really expect the same against South Africa in South Africa, a country where Pakistan has never won a Test series.

Moreover, the current South African Test team is probably the best Test team they have ever had in their history of Test cricket.

Smith, Amla, Kallis, De Villiers, Du Plessis, Alviro Petersen represent the strongest Test batting line up internationally. Five of them are among the Top 20 ranked batsmen in Tests, while the one who is not is only 4 Test matches old and already has 2 centuries and 2 fifties in his 6 test innings.

Steyn, Morkel, Philander represent the best pace attack in the world currently, and arguably one of the best ever Test pace attacks to play the game.

Steyn and Philander are the Top 2 ranked bowlers in Tests, while Morne Morkel is at number 8.

That’s a team with every single player in great form. No surprises then that they are the world’s number 1 Test team.

To say that this tour to South Africa is going to be a big test for Pakistan is a gross understatement.

It will be tough. It might even be a disaster. Pakistan could be whitewashed. Watching New Zealand fold in front of the South Africans, there can’t be much hope for Pakistan’s batsmen.

But there should be some in my opinion.

In Mohammad Hafeez, Taufeeq Umar, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Misbah Ul Haq, and Asad Shafiq, Pakistan have a very stable batting line up. Add the ever improving Nasir Jamshed and the emerging Haris Sohail to the mix and Pakistan have a good problem on their hands in deciding their top 6.

Pakistan’s Test record in the past 2.5 years, during which they have lost only 2 Tests, is second to none. The rise of batsmen like Azhar, Hafeez, and Asad, coupled with the experience of Younis and Misbah, has been a key reason behind the team’s success.

The biggest contributor to this success though is Saeed Ajmal, the world’s best spinner across all formats. He has single handedly led Pakistan’s bowling attack over the past couple of years and destroyed all teams that have come in his way.

England’s demolition last year was largely due to their inability to read Saeed Ajmal, and his partner in crime, Abdur Rehman.

While South African conditions may not offer much assistance to spinners, Ajmal and Rehman are the sort of bowlers who don’t require much help from the pitches. Their variety and guile are enough to trouble the best of batsmen across all types of surfaces.

Moreover, Pakistan finally have a potent pace attack. Once again it feels like a proper Pakistan team with attacking fast bowlers who can trouble opposing batsmen.

In Junaid Khan, Mohammad Irfan, Umar Gul, and the untested Ehsan Adil, Pakistan has its most dangerous pace attack since the 2010 summer when Aamer and Asif were running through the Australian and English batting line ups.

Adil is only 19, but going by his U19 and domestic performance during the past year, he has the potential to take wickets in heaps in South Africa.

Pakistan’s batsmen might find it difficult facing Steyn, Morkel, and Philander in their back yard, but I can assure you that Smith & company will not find it easy to cope with Junaid, Irfan, and Ajmal.

I truly believe that it will be a well fought series. Tough to think of a Pakistan series win, but I am quite sure that they will compete well and give South Africa a hard time.

Pakistan is currently ranked number 4 in Tests. The last time they played against the world’s number 3, number 2, and number 1 teams the results were 1-1, 3-0, and 0-0 respectively.

The last time Pakistan played South Africa in a Test series was in 2010 in the UAE, right after the England summer when the spot fixing scandal had destroyed the team’s morale.

It was Misbah’s first Test series in charge of the team and Pakistan managed to hold South Africa for a draw in both tests.