Pakistan v NewZealand (in U.A.E and NZL)

If they drop Misbah, this will definitely be the end of his career. Salman Butt will most likely return and will open with Akmal in one dayers and Fawad in tests. Umer Amin is a bright prospect and will give Butt a tough time for his spot.

Without Asif available - I do not think they will drop Rana yet. Rana can only be dropped if they decide to play Rao.

I would still have Misbah in my one day team any day ahead of Younus. Farhat is far too inconsistent for my likings. If they drop Misbah they should play Fawad - who has been deprived of opportunities till today.

True that. this is most probably going to be the line up for most of the tour - unless Butt fails. This team will be much more balanced if we have Razzaq back. But sadly he is not in the plans.

Batting is a bit thin in my opinion. Afridi is just a slogger and plays a good knock once every 20 innings it seems. If they are keen on playing 2 frontline spinner then it means they have to play one less pacer. This problem could EASILY be fixed by replacing one of the fast men for Abdul Razzaq, who can actually play proper innings, score quicks runs at the end and bowl a full quota of overs.
My ODI side for PAK would look like this and with this order too:

1. Akmal (WK)
2. Butt
3. Shoaib Malik
4. Yousuf
5. Akmal, U
6. Younus/Misbah (I'd actually play Umar at 5. He's a strokemaker and a guy who can make tons on a regular basis. 6 is too low and when he is a permanent fixture in the side and an experienced member then he should be a no.3/4)
7. Abdul Razzaq
8. Afridi
9. Aamer
10. Asif (obviously he is not available, so you'd play a Rao or Rana instead)
11. Gul

Originally posted by milkman Batting is a bit thin in my opinion. Afridi is just a slogger and plays a good knock once every 20 innings it seems. If they are keen on playing 2 frontline spinner then it means they have to play one less pacer. This problem could EASILY be fixed by replacing one of the fast men for Abdul Razzaq, who can actually play proper innings, score quicks runs at the end and bowl a full quota of overs. My ODI side for PAK would look like this and with this order too: 1. Akmal (WK) 2. Butt 3. Shoaib Malik 4. Yousuf 5. Akmal, U 6. Younus/Misbah (I'd actually play Umar at 5. He's a strokemaker and a guy who can make tons on a regular basis. 6 is too low and when he is a permanent fixture in the side and an experienced member then he should be a no.3/4) 7. Abdul Razzaq 8. Afridi 9. Aamer 10. Asif (obviously he is not available, so you'd play a Rao or Rana instead) 11. Gul

Dont think Malik plays as a bowler. He hardly bowls now. THis might not work in NZL though. They will have to plan an extra seamer. And Razzaq has done good against NZL in the past.

He can bat at 8 ONLY when we have Razzaq which is not going to happen in the near future.

Originally posted by kirankri Tests in NewZealand and Limited overs in UAE. So will it be a home series for NZ or Pakistan?

It's a home series of Pakistan. I believe the money made from the tests here in NZ go to PCB.

New Zealand Dollars are very strong for such a small economy , was almost at parity with the Australian Dollar before recession hit NZ (Australia did not go into recession and now the Australia dollar will be close to equal with the US dollar come January).

Squads
Tests: Salman Butt, Khurrum Manzoor, Imran Farhat, Younis Khan (capt), Mohammad Yousuf, Shoaib Malik, Fawad Alam, Faisal Iqbal, Kamran Akmal (wk), Danish Kaneria, Saeed Ajmal, Yasir Arafat, Umar Gul, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Aamer, Abdur Rauf, Umar Akmal, Sarfraz Ahmad

One-dayers: Salman Butt, Imran Farhat, Khalid Latif, Younis Khan (capt), Mohammad Yousuf, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Kamran Akmal (wk), Abdul Razzaq, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Shahid Afridi, Saeed Ajmal, Umar Gul, Mohammad Aamer, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Wahab Riaz

Twenty20: Khalid Latif, Imran Nazir, Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi (capt), Kamran Akmal (wk), Abdul Razzaq, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Umar Gul, Mohammad Aamer, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Saeed Ajmal, Imran Farhat, Fawad Alam, Sohail Tanvir

Anybody knows who I don't rate in that Pakistan squad?  Sam, you care to answer?

Well, for me, if you fail against the West Indies, that says a helluva lot.

We're not talking about Misbah.  Umar Akmal is very exciting!

yes, Misbah had to go, perhaps they could have selected him for Tests but then there are several youngsters knocking on the door.

Originally posted by zuhair_abbasi So I find a funny thing in the selection. Fawad Alam is picked in two formats. T20 and tests. Surely, he has to be the only player around to have such an unwanted distinction.