Pakistan tour of West Indies - July 2013

[Warner Watson]

I'm still trying to understand how is that related to my post.
you said your team is not India, then i said Pakistan is way better played then WI in that match, there is nothing to be understand more.

 

[Sulaiman7]

You know I'd have recommended Misbah to open had you had a formidable middle order or you would have been lacking an opener but you have Azhar Ali to take up the opener's job and at the same time your middle order is pretty fragile. Look at how India have utilized Rohit Sharma when he was the weak link in their middle order given his slow nature of game but now that he is an opener, he almost guarantees India of a solid start and the batsmen that follow make the most of the platform he and Shikhar Dhawan set. England too have done the same by sending Ian Bell to open the innings but the important part is both the teams have good middle order batsmen to take the advantage of the opening stand.

Misbah opening ? seriously ? we need an aggressive opener and Misbah can't change his playing style (I know he can't) . I think that we should give Azhar Ali a chance in ODIs too , he deserves it .

 

[vaibhavtewatia]

So Gayle is going to bat in the middle now.

 

[Sulaiman7]

So Gayle is going to bat in the middle now.

Let's see what he can do there , it's the first time he's batting in the middle , right ?

 

[Ahmad94]

Let's see what he can do there , it's the first time he's batting in the middle , right ?

He started his career in the middle order, if I am not mistaken.

 

[vaibhavtewatia]

Let's see what he can do there , it's the first time he's batting in the middle , right ?

Cricinfo tells me that he has played at all positions from 1 to 7 in the ODI's. Though I can't really remember an instance. He has anyway been unsuccessful at postions other than opening.

He started his career in the middle order, if I am not mistaken.

Yes.

 

[Sulaiman7]

Impressive batting display by Pakistan today . Hafeez finally clicked .

 

[Ahmad94]

Like I have said before, Hafeez is forced to play fast and he succeeds.

 

[Ahmad94]

Pakistan win the series 3-1. Some good chases by Pakistan in this series.

 

[Samuels]

Not for the first time, WI paid the price for their T20ish approach in ODI cricket. Hardly anyone sticks around in the middle.

 

[Ahmad94]

IMpressed with Umar Akmal, hope he matures a little more and can play the big hundred knocks.

 

[Sulaiman7]

IMpressed with Umar Akmal, hope he matures a little more and can play the big hundred knocks.

Yeah me too , he's a very talented player and has potential to be special and has proved as a hero in recent matches .

 

[War]

Not for the first time, WI paid the price for their T20ish approach in ODI cricket. Hardly anyone sticks around in the middle.

Ye basically. This is a mental hurdle they need to overcome, because its obvious the team is talented across all area's.

One thing this series also showed is that in the future in the ODI set-up they need an extra bowler. Essentially in ODI's windies have 30 solid overs from Rampaul/Roach/Best/Holder (whichever 2 new-ball bowlers starts - usually Rampaul/Roach) plus Narine. Then they are hoping to get economical overs from Bravo/Sammy/Pollard/Samuels/Gayle.

You compare that to Pakistan team whose only bowling weak links this series was Riaz or Asad Ali - otherwise Pakistan had 40+ solid overs from Irfan/Junaid/Ajmal/Afridi/Hafeez.

West Indies need to play third potent quick bowler more often in Holder/Best or Russell if he regains some bowling form.

Also i think either Charles/Simmons wicket-keeping is a good long term idea. However i would let Simmons do the dual role, because i think he is more solid all-round/technical batsman than Charles as a opener/keeper.

So best ODI XI/squad:

Gayle, Simmons, Bravo, Samuels, Pollard, DW Bravo, Russell, Sammy, Narine, Rampaul, Roach

Charles, Sarwan/Deonarine, Best/Holder, Cooper/Shillingford.

 

[Samuels]

I do not think we have as many problems in our bowling department (in ODIs and T20Is) as much we have in batting. Charles haven't done anything criminal to be axed but yes, I would like to see Simmons opening the batting with Gayle as the combo of a hitter and a resilient batsman has worked more often than not for the teams world over over the years. WI should try and change their the attitude of the batsmen and make them stick around. For that, I think seniors will have a major role to play and so will Darren Bravo who seems the one of the few batsmen not in a hurry. Secondly, the Pakistani bowling attack is more or less like WI bowling attack with 3 pacers, a good spinner before Hafeez & co. roll their arm over but the reason I think their emerged a difference between the two bowling attacks for in fact the batting of the other teams. While WI batsmen gave it away, Pakistanis kept their cool and stuck in the middle which eventually helped them score more and increase their chances of winning.

Coming back to the WI team. I think the team should play more and more test match cricket to change their attitude towards the game. Getting in the yesteryears' legends in the board and managerial/coaching positions haven't worked for the team in the past and I doubt it will work in the near future so playing the test matches is only way I can think of to make the batsmen more resilient. Now, the problem here is, we need some really good bowlers, both seamers and spinners in test match cricket as most of our bowlers average 35+ and that is one more reason for me to wish if Jerome Taylor was available and that at his fittest best. The so called mystery spinner, Sunil Narine has failed to do anything good in test matches thus far and neither has any of the Badrees or the Bishoos have look test match material. Shillingford remains our go to man in the spin department. Worse, the selectors continue to overlook Nikita Miller who has by far the best career figures for any spinner in WI domestic cricket at the moment.

 

[Umair7]

I hope no one criticized Misbah anymore or call him Tuk Tuk for me along with Umar he saved Pakistan in this series