Pakistan vs England ODI Series preview

It seems that Pakistan are the new Sri Lanka – they have a calm captain, a batting order that enjoys a good grind (not in a dirty way) and the best offspinner currently in action backed up by a worthy left-arm spinner. England, in a way, are the new India – menacing at home with their flashy middle-order and bowlers who use the conditions well, but like a fat man in a salad bar, they are hapless in foreign conditions.

Having made that comparison, I’m not sure if this means that Pakistan vs England is the new Sri Lanka vs India…I hope not, because the latter two have played each other so many times in the last half-decade that they now share the same DNA. It may be premature to put that label on England, but time will certainly tell. Time is one mouthy bitch.

Pakistan

Squad: Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Younis Khan, Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Hafeez, Imran Farhat, Umar Akmal, Asad Shafiq, Adnan Akmal (wk), Junaid Khan, Umar Gul, Aizaz Cheema, Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman, Wahab Riaz, Hammad Azam, Azhar Ali.

Form: WWWWW

It may be a neutral venue, but the UAE hasn’t just been a kind host to Pakistan over the years, it has coddled them – giving them confidence, feeding them, buying them expensive things…

Not convinced? Just look at the difference between Pakistan’s ODI records at home and in the UAE:

	Matches	Won	Lost	Tied	N/R	Win/Loss	High	Low
At home	176	108	64	1	3	1.68	353	75
In the UAE	134	89	44	1	0	2.02	328	87

Clearly, Pakistan are more likely to win in the UAE – where, interestingly, they have played almost as many ODIs as they have at home. The domestic violence that has driven them into the arms of another gentler country has at least not harmed their cricket.

Pakistan’s mix of youthful players and youthful old players has won them 15 of their 18 games since the World Cup, so things are going spectacularly right for them. Unless, of course, their plans were to not win, which is as likely as someone wanting to bite a cricket ball. I can’t think of anyone who would want to do that.

Mustard or mayo?: A torn Shahid Afridi weighs up his lunch options

Returning to the Pakistani squad is the man, the hair, the legend – Shahid Afridi. People keep talking about his retirements, why won’t they leave him alone? The man has many years of cricket in him yet, he’s only 23, for Sachin’s sake!

Also making the squad is all-rounder Hammad Azam, since Abdul Razzaq will be recovering from his injury by playing in the Bangladesh Premier League. He’s the only new face, as winning sides are not to be tinkered with.

Best XI: Hafeez, Shafiq, Younis, Misbah (c), Azhar, U. Akmal (wk), Afridi, Rehman, Gul, Ajmal, Cheema.

Key: Younis, Umar Akmal, Hafeez with the new ball, absence of Kamran Akmal.

England

Squad: Alastair Cook (capt), James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Danny Briggs, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Jade Dernbach, Steven Finn, Craig Kieswetter (wk), Eoin Morgan, Samit Patel, Kevin Pietersen, Graeme Swann, Jonathan Trott.

Form: LLLLL

England have been beaten, thumped and flattened like the Pillsbury Doughboy in a sumo ring. And that was in the format that they are good at. They now have to suffer through an ODI series, after their last one-dayers away from home resulted in a whitewash at the hands of an Indian side that can hardly be called “red-hot” at the moment.

In order to weed out any symptoms of negativity, the selectors have opted for a bunch of young, dynamic, fearless go-getters. You know, like their captain, who will surely regale this new lot with stories of his wilder days, when he stuck it to the man by tossing jelly beans in his general vicinity.

England starlet Jos Buttler denies suggestions his switch hit is too premeditated

Left-arm spinner Danny Briggs has great potential, but probably not enough to get him a game this series. The big selection, though, is that of non-South African Jos Buttler, the mighty keeper batsman who averages 70 in domestic one-day cricket with a strike rate of 128. It’s going to be a tough choice between him, Kieswetter and Bairstow, but only because he hasn’t played yet.

Watch out for: Samit Patel in the lunch break.

Best XI: Cook (c), Buttler (wk), Trott, Pieterson, Morgan, Bopara, Patel, Broad, Bresnan, Swann, Anderson.

Key: #TrottsFault, Morgan, Swann.

Prediction: Pakistan will sweep the floor with England, with plenty of upward pointing coming our way via Afridi. England may sneak a win if Buttler serves up something special.

words by Rishabh Bablani. He doesn’t just watch cricket, he follows it around in a minivan. He writes here and tweets here