Pakistan Team for 2nd Test Match
| 5
|
Oh Lord! With the return of Younis Khan, who will star in Pakistani XI? Who goes out? In his last test match, Faisal Iqbal hit a series winning century against India which helped Pakistan clinch the series 1-0. Today, his solid defence coupled with elegant strokes played a role in drawing the match. He was playing in place of Younis Khan. This is my team for the next match
1.Shahid Afridi 2.Imran Farhat 3.Younis Khan 4.Yousaf Youhana 5.Inzamam Ul Haq 6.Faisal Iqbal 7.Kamran Akmal 8.Abdul Razzaq 9.Mohammad Sami 10.Umar Gul 11.Danish Kaneria
Or, Younis will come in and Iqbal will sit out. Will be a tough decision to have him sit out. Afridi or Akmal can be makeshift openers, but Pakistan is keen not to use Akmal's services in the opening department and Afridi has communicated his desire for playing lower down the order in test matches. Iqbal cant replace neither Afridi nor AbdulRazzaq, as they are our 4th and 5th bowler. Well, time will tell. Your comments on this?
Source
Date
Mon 07/17/06, 4:35 pm EST
With regards to Strauss, I know where he is coming from. Declaring on the eve of day 4 would have given the English bowlers an opportunity to bowl with the new ball twice, hence improving the chances of making a breakthrough. I think Strauss's plan was not to loose this test match and wait for Flintoff to get back in the team to take command. Negative cricket? Yes, but if Pakistan held on those catches on Day 1, England's chances would have been very weak to even hold on for a draw.
England's bowling hopefully should be boosted with Flintoff returning to the side, but Pakistan will be adding more mettle to their side by including their vice captain. The B-string Pakistani bowlers did well. Its the fielders, or shall I say I Farhat in particular, who let them down. Akmal did drop a sitter, but he does also makeup by performing consistently with the bat.