Pakistan

[icyman]

Support Afridi ? The team doesn't even have a captain. PCB is at fault for not announcing one- this is going to be quite troublesome for the team. Given that Afridi captained for nearly a year, it make sense to give it to him.
On the other hand, the PCB might be hoodwinked into giving it to Misbah cause of the recent series success in New Zealand.

 

[Afridi Akhtar]

What ever you guys say. i always support my team..dont think there are only fixers from pakistan..many are there from aussies,english,india etc...but the thing is our country is too weak to handle those cases..but our cricket team aint..if you say kick akmal brothers after just 1 match they didnt play well..when they make half century.you would say we need them..so let them keep playing.

Dont forget onething.we are not alone in fixing matters..india too.what about RAINA.

CRICKET WITHOUT PAKISTAN IS LIKE A CAR WITHOUT A HANDEL.

 

[Rehan_24]

Though the Second One Day couldn't get complete due to heavy rain, it looks to me that Pakistan is finding a right combination of having two specialist openers Hafeez and Shahzad, there was still depth in batting lineup today and only Akhtar needs to get fit so that he can replace wahab or tanvir.

 

[Paki007]

i think Akhtar must take retirement after world cup.and i dont feel that he'll be able to play all the matches in wc.2 reasons behind it one is his fitness and second is his performance.it has been a long time since we have seen a great performance from him.conceding too many runs these days

 

[pcfan123]

dont think there are only fixers from pakistan..many are there from aussies,english,india etc..

no it's just the Pakistanis

 

[Rehan_24]

i think Akhtar must take retirement after world cup.and i dont feel that he'll be able to play all the matches in wc.2 reasons behind it one is his fitness and second is his performance.it has been a long time since we have seen a great performance from him.conceding too many runs these days

Right, but he performed very well in England I suppose. I believe that he has still put on lot of weight. He has to reduce his weight atleast 8 to 10 kilos and thats not a very tough task for a sportsman like Shoaib Akhtar. If he tones down his weight, I am very hopeful that he will back to his express speed at some level.

 

[Paki007]

no it's just the Pakistanis

prove it

 

[Papa_Smurf]

prove it

YouTube - Spot fixing scandal mazhar majeed full video (must watch)

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No other team in cricket has been a big a joke as Pak over the last few years - drugs controversy, premature retirements, stupid life-bans, captaincy issues every new series, captaincy issues in middle of series, spot-fixing, players dissappearing, players taking oath to underperform......seriously, the list is never-ending.

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Just remembered seeing this today, and this only covering stuff from the last week:

Pretty hilarious cartoon

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Getting off-topic however. Big question for the WC is the role of Razzaq the bowler - is he strong enough to be used as the 3rd seamer, so the batting line-up can be strengthened?

 

[sami ullah khan]

In subcontinent Razzaq will not be good enough to bowl ten overs. He will be hammered around. His pace is way too low to put any pressure on batsmen on docile low pitches of SC. He can get away with 4-5 with the new ball but will be hammered later on. I still think Razzaq can crank it up to over 135 KPH consistently. He just does not want to as he considers himself a batting all-rounder. In his early years he used to get over 140 and close 145 on a regular basis. He is still a strong guy (get confirmation from Langeveldt), its just the lack of effort that has reduced him from being a wicket taking aggressive paceman to a lollypop bowler.

 

[Papa_Smurf]

Then will Afridi be the lone-spinner (along with part-timers like Hafeez)? I've brought this up cos Pak's strategy for he first 2 ODI's has confused me. They're trying out different combinations, but it seems to me that they're adamant that Razzaq plays at No.8 - so they have batting depth.

He is still a strong guy (get confirmation from Langeveldt)

It was by far the best ODI innings I've ever seen - incredible!

 

[Rehan_24]

Well in this series, the team can afford some experiments to find a right combination of the team. The team management is doing the right thing because you can not experiment during the world cup. This is the perfect series for you to finally make a good combination.

I have high reservations Razzaq's consistency with the bat. His bowling has no place in the sub-continent pitches, considering what smashing will took place in this WC having flat tracks but he needs to perform with the bat on consistent basis as well.

 

[Papa_Smurf]

Looking at his performance in UAE against SA (same as SC conditions) his economy rate was the same as the other bowlers - albeit he never bowled more than 5 overs and didn't take a wicket. But it's not like he was smashed around - in 3rd or 4th (or was it the 5th?)ODI against SA - he even managed to bowl a maiden when Akhtar went for more than 10 an over. So it's not like he will be smashed around.

As far as his batting goes - I can think of atleast 4 times when he won or almost won Pak the match single-handedly in 2010 - the 2nd T20 against Eng in UAE, the Super 8 clash against the Kiwi's in the T20 WC and ofcouse the 2nd ODI against SA. For someone who's supposed to be a low-order finisher/the x-factor, that is pretty consistent. It's the top order and middle order for Pak that need to be more consistent.

Just realized something - Razzaq didn't bowl a single bowl when he smacked SA. Coincidence?

 

[Rehan_24]

Ofcourse the Top order has to be consistent but Razzaq consistency as a lower order batsman hasnt been to that level I suppose. The examples you have given, two of which are T-20 and one is a One Day International which was really a miracle case just like Hussey played the most wondered innings at T20 semi-final against Saeed Ajmal and other Pakistani Bowlers.

Razzaq needs to increase his batting performance level. I dont think so that out of 10 matches, you are giving one match winning performance and not contributing at all in other 9 matches will work in the favour of the team. There should be some level of contributions in other matches as well.

As far as bowling is concerned, its unlikely in the sub-continent wickets, he can be a handy bowler at times but he is highly in-consistent as a bowler, i don't think so he can be used as a regular bowler for a longer period

 

[Papa_Smurf]

Forgot about the 4th ODI against England. And these are only his big performances - his main job is to have little cameos at the end - to say change a score of 220 to 250. And he has done that consistently.

 

[Rehan_24]

He has definitely as far as the cameos are concerned, but he didnt work hard on his talent to surpass it.