Blessing in Disguise for Pakistan.

Cricket teams all around the world envy Pakistan teams as they often introduce young talent to the arena who have the potential to leave a mark instantly. Watching Pak vs NZ and Pak vs Aus this season, I realized the impact Mohd. Aamer and Umar Akmal have already made in international cricket. Playing his first season, Umar Akmal is already a crisis man for Pakistan cricket team. A century and a fifty in debut match where other Pakistani batsmen struggled, speak a load about his talent. With whatever Pakistan cricket I have followed recently, this batsman has never disappointed on any occasion under any circumstances or conditions. Never afraid to play his big shots, he also has a wise head on his shoulders as to how and when to unleash.

Talking about Aamer, he is already turning out to be one of the most feared bowlers in cricket these days. He has got pace, bounce and with a slight slinging action, he is already creating troubles for a lot of right handed batsmen. Add to that his decent batting which can make a difference towards the later part of the innings.

Sure Pakistani players do have tremendous talent and potential and it is important that PCB takes enough steps to ensure that young talent remains interested in longer formats of the game specially Test Cricket. Pakistan team performance has been below average on several occasions in longer formats of the game even though they are T20 Champs. It is one of the teams that has been adversely hit by the popularity & rise of T20 Cricket as Test Cricket continues to get neglected.

Mohd. Yousuf was perhaps right when he said that T20 Cricket has done a lot of damage to the team and steps needed to be taken to control the game. PCB has failed to take any actions and snubbing of Pak players by IPL franchisees might turn out to be a blessing in disguise as young Aamers and Akmals continue to focus on Test Cricket.