After completing a clean sweep of Zimbabwe, Pakistan have now refreshed themselves after the world cup and are no ready to meet stiffer oppositon. This was the perfect series to get us ready for the big matches against Sri Lanka and England coming up. Pakistan turned out completely successful on this tour, even though they recieved a lot of criticism before it started. Experts such as Wasim Akram criticised against the non-inclusion of senior players such as Umar Gul and Wahab Riaz, they said that our attack would become really weak without them. The aim of this tour was to give youngsters a chance and try different combinations, how would that happen with them?
Well, basically so far Misbah has now not lost a single series as captain and his team were able to put together a fitting farewell for Waqar Younis. But what exactly did Pakistan gain from this series? Lets have a look at certain players performances:
1) Mohammad Hafeez: A fairytale tour for him, he was just fantastic. He performed in all formats of the game, in batting with 1 test century, an odi century and 2 t20 half-centuries. In the bwoling department, he took 4 wickets in the test match at 15.25, only got 1 wicket in the ODI's but got 7 wickets in the t20i's, that too crucial breakthroughs. Just as people were demanding his exclusion from the team, he came out and performed with a bang! And i have to say, for the first time in years, Pakistan finally have a settled opening batsman. His contributions in this series were too good to be true, those 4 man of the match awards he recieved during the tour were well deserved.
He has been able to set up good platforms for Pakistan with his batting and his spin has become really handy, he's almost a 10-overs bowler now. Now that Hafeez has performed against these minnows, its time for him to really prove himself against Sri Lanka next month.
2) Imran Farhat: After being brough back in the side again, i believe he's had a reasonably good comeback. Just played three ODI's at 56.00 which is impressive. He looked comfortable batting with Hafeez and looked like a good partner for him, a bit sloppy in the field though. I still dont think theres any reason for him to be dropped after this tour though.
3) Younis Khan: Pakistans most consistent batsman this tour, he truly showed his value for the team this tour. Performing in both the test match and ODI's also by being marked as Pakistans best fielder. He made a good solid knock in the test match and had two half-centuries in the ODI's at 86.00 with a good strike rate which is exceptional. I feel hes our best batsman at the moment and i dont know what our team would do without his experience and how he settles the middle order.
4) Aizaz Cheema: Surely a dream debut for him, even at the age of 32, hes shown he still has it in him to perform for his country. In fact, the way he performed, the question that arises is why didn't he get to debut earlier? He took 8 wicketes in the test match at 12.87 and 8 wickets in the 3 ODI's at 17.00. He has impressed highly and deserves a chance to carry on, as the only swing bowler Pakistan had on this tour, he was able to fill in the boots of the rested Umar Gul. Had he debuted earlier, i would have predicted a bright future for him, but at the age of 32, i dont know what to say, but he surely has the talent and skills for that.
5) Yasir Shah: After Afridis retirement, he had big boots of a leg spinner to fill. I think he performed reasonably and showed promise. After he gets some international exposure and maturity, he could surely become a much improved and effective performer. He bowled with good pace but his line and length was a bit shaky, he can work on that though. He may have been ordinary with the ball, but he was extremely impressive and effective in the field, he saved a lot of runs and took a few amazing catchers, good fielders is something Pakistan is in need of so he should keep up the good work in that field.
6) Sohail Tanvir: Hes had an impressive comeback to the side with both bat and bowl. He was able to provide the team with some hard hit boundaries at the end of the innings and gives much needed strength to our lower order. He bowled good line and lengths with good pace and swing but without much rewards. Even then, he showed promise and performed well enough under the absence of Gul and Riaz. At the age of 25, still got a lot of cricket left in him and has shown the skills to be a worthy performer, the upcoming series will be good tests for him.
7) Shoaib Malik: A very unconvincing comeback from his side and he surely could have performed better. Only being able to score 17 runs in 4 innings, he had the capability to score better. He didn't perform much with the ball either, only picked up one wicket the whole series. I expected a much better performance from him and won't be surprised if hes dropped after this tour, and at the age of 29, i dont know when or whether hell ever get another chance again. The only way he performed was by being sharp in the field. Besides, its time Pakistan used youngsters rather then seniors who dont even perform.
After testing this mixture of youngsters and seniors, i hope the PCB will select a good squad for the upcoming series against Sri Lanka, a test for them surely.
Well, basically so far Misbah has now not lost a single series as captain and his team were able to put together a fitting farewell for Waqar Younis. But what exactly did Pakistan gain from this series? Lets have a look at certain players performances:
He has been able to set up good platforms for Pakistan with his batting and his spin has become really handy, he's almost a 10-overs bowler now. Now that Hafeez has performed against these minnows, its time for him to really prove himself against Sri Lanka next month.
3) Younis Khan: Pakistans most consistent batsman this tour, he truly showed his value for the team this tour. Performing in both the test match and ODI's also by being marked as Pakistans best fielder. He made a good solid knock in the test match and had two half-centuries in the ODI's at 86.00 with a good strike rate which is exceptional. I feel hes our best batsman at the moment and i dont know what our team would do without his experience and how he settles the middle order.
4) Aizaz Cheema: Surely a dream debut for him, even at the age of 32, hes shown he still has it in him to perform for his country. In fact, the way he performed, the question that arises is why didn't he get to debut earlier? He took 8 wicketes in the test match at 12.87 and 8 wickets in the 3 ODI's at 17.00. He has impressed highly and deserves a chance to carry on, as the only swing bowler Pakistan had on this tour, he was able to fill in the boots of the rested Umar Gul. Had he debuted earlier, i would have predicted a bright future for him, but at the age of 32, i dont know what to say, but he surely has the talent and skills for that.
5) Yasir Shah: After Afridis retirement, he had big boots of a leg spinner to fill. I think he performed reasonably and showed promise. After he gets some international exposure and maturity, he could surely become a much improved and effective performer. He bowled with good pace but his line and length was a bit shaky, he can work on that though. He may have been ordinary with the ball, but he was extremely impressive and effective in the field, he saved a lot of runs and took a few amazing catchers, good fielders is something Pakistan is in need of so he should keep up the good work in that field.
7) Shoaib Malik: A very unconvincing comeback from his side and he surely could have performed better. Only being able to score 17 runs in 4 innings, he had the capability to score better. He didn't perform much with the ball either, only picked up one wicket the whole series. I expected a much better performance from him and won't be surprised if hes dropped after this tour, and at the age of 29, i dont know when or whether hell ever get another chance again. The only way he performed was by being sharp in the field. Besides, its time Pakistan used youngsters rather then seniors who dont even perform.
After testing this mixture of youngsters and seniors, i hope the PCB will select a good squad for the upcoming series against Sri Lanka, a test for them surely.
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