1st ODI Reaction

Phew! Avoided an upset there….Pakistan win their 15th out of 22 ODIs this year… Misbah maintains a 100% LOI clean record after 5 matches..Hopefully will be 9 by the end of the tour..Next match comes on Sunday in Harare...in fact the remaining 4 matches of the tour will be played there… impressive performance from the debutants (Adnan and Aizaz).. Not the comeback which neither Farhat or Malik would have wished for..Back to back 50s for YKs in one day internationals..he was superb today and deservedly MOM.. Ran aggressively between the wickets, rotated the strike, played some delightful controlled cricketing shots…Ideally I would not have him in the ODI set up anymore..BUT if he is batting at number 3 & in general I am not one who would mind his inclusion in this format...he is a class act...Misbah now has 8 50s in 18 ODI innings this year with an average of above 60...Umar was decent at best today, played a useful hand and engaged in an important partnership with the captain after Malik was strangled down the leg side by some brilliance from TT..However failed to accelerate during the latter stages of the innings…fielding on the whole was sloppy today..Ajmal and Junaid were far from their best...Cheema is the leading wicket taker on his ODI debut as well as his test debut..got 3 big wickets of set batsmen at crucial stages in the game with his variations…he has really made a positive impact on this tour in the absence of Gul and Wahab...Razzaq and Afridi were missed in the last 10 overs...Misbah really should have gone on and batted the distance..Nonetheless Adnan played a decent hand in his first ODI cap...didn’t hit many boundaries but rotated the strike pretty well...Sohail Tanvir had a good day out in all departments in his comeback having missed out in the WC and on the WI tour..Credit to Zimbabwe for giving us a good run & tight game... Taylor did a top job and led from the front...Hopefully from a PCT fans perspective it will be the closest they happen to come to us on the whole tour...I’d like to see Yasir Shah get a chance in the next 4 games..Perhaps rest Ajmal when the series is secured..Perhaps Sohail Khan instead of Junaid in the next game..RR will get a go I’m sure in the 20/20s..Would like to see Azhar or Asad instead of Farhat at the top by a mile..