1st ODI Observations

He should have batted at 4 in WC too. The solid batter HAS to be in the top 4. Mohali could have been a different story had Afridi and the management utilised him properly. Prevents pressure building up in the first place. Helps him command the game forward from the front and make a bigger impact as a top class experienced batter. Finally Misbah batted at 4 today. Soild anchor role accumulators who are capable of playing a long innings batting in the top 4 is key to maximise the effectiveness of both them and the team i.e. Trott and Kallis as examples. It is easier to make a bigger impact with more time and responsibility & build the innings that way. The legendary Imran Khan had stressed this point throughout his TV analysis in the World Cup & felt this was a key area why Pakistan were never able to play to their full potential and eventually went on to lose the all important clash on Wednesday 30th March 2011 as the guy pictured was left as an alone warrior with too much to do with too little time.

-Yesterday was exactly a month since the West Indies were outplayed in the 1st quarter final match up played in Dhaka by a humiliating 10 wicket margin. A month later it was the 1st ODI of a 5 match series held in the Caribbean and the outcome was similar. Pakistan outclassed them and eased to victory but this time by a margin of 8 wickets following an unbeaten 134* run 3rd wicket stand between emerging Shafiq and experienced Misbah.

-Pakistan have bowled first in their last 7 LO encounters and chased down the target successfully on 4 occasions.

-Pakistan have won their 6th consecutive ODI against the West Indies overall.

-The spinners just went for 100 runs in their 30 overs: Hafeez, Ajmal, Afridi whereas the left arm pacers went for 111 in their 20 overs: Wahab, Junaid.

-Wahab Riaz bowled 11 wides and 3 no balls in his 10 overs. It was a complete lack of discipline & control from the left arm seamer who sprayed it about all over the place.

-Misbah has scored 6 half centuries in 12 ODI innings this year. 4 of them have come in winning causes & on 3 occasions he has carried the bat through. Misbah reached his 15th ODI half century. 11 of those have come in winning causes.

-There were 3 half centuries in the top 4. Hafeez reached his 9th ODI half century whereas Shafiq reached his 3rd.

-After claiming 21 wickets in the space of 7 matches Afridi has gone wicketless for the last 3 LO encounters.

-Hammad Azam did not get a chance to turn his arm over or bat on his ODI debut.

-1,13, 12,10, 8, 22 are the scores of Ahmed Shehzad in his last 6 ODI innings. In order to keep his place in the national side he simply needs to get his act together and start performing. There might even be a temptation to drop him now and replace him with Pakistan's current Test left hand opener in Taufiq Umar who is part of the 16 man squad on this ODI trip.

-Junaid Khan bowled well in his first spell and generally impressed Michael Holding with his action and follow through. He conceded 23 runs in his first 6 overs & did a pretty good job. He seems to be able to move the ball appreciably away from the right hander and jag it into the left handers. There were some encouraging signs from a player who would have been nervous.

-In 2010 Pakistan won 5 ODIs in the calendar year out of 18 encounters. Misbah was not part of the team with the exception of 2 matches. In 2011 Pakistan have already won 10 ODIs out of 13 he has played in. Since coming into the side this is the difference and impact he has made to the ODI side. The change in fortunes his stature and presence has brought in the side speaks for itself. On current form he is up there amongst one of the best batsmen in the world right now. The New Zealand coach was insisting to his players :" we should learn how to bat like Misbah and take a leaf out of his book." It's pure ignorance to degrade his credentials and role in the LO side at this moment in time.

West Indies vs Pakistan - T20 Match

Pakistan have played 45 Twenty20 internationals but they have never played an international T20 encounter against the West Indies.

Out of the 45 T20 internationals Pakistan have played they have won 27, however they have only won 1 in the last 7 they have played.

Pakistan have lost the last 3 Twenty20 series they have played against England (2-0), South Africa (2-0) and New Zealand (2-1).

West Indies on the other hand have played 28 T20 internationals and won 11.

Last time Pakistan played in St Lucia the breath taking final over heroics from Mike Hussey shattered their dreams of reaching a 3rd consecutive Twenty20 World Cup final on Friday 14th May 2010 as the baggy greens successfully chased down 192 with 3 wickets and 1 ball to spare.

During the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 Cup as a whole Pakistan played at the venue 4 times and won twice and lost twice.

Saeed Ajmal is the leading wicket taker in international T20 matches at the venue with 9 of his scalps captured at this very venue.

Pakistan have reached the T20 WC semi finals 3/3 times whereas the West Indies have only reached the semis one of the 3 times in 2009 where they were defeated by Sri Lanka who eventually went on to convincingly lose the final against Younis Khan's victorious Pakistan side.

Pakistan have won 8/18 Twenty20 internationals in which Shahid Khan Afridi has led the side.

Prediction: Pakistan will win convincingly and start their preparation for winning the 2012 ICC WT20 which is to be held in Sri Lanka with a bang. For this match I expect to see 3 debutants including Hammad Azam, Mohammad Salman and Junaid Khan. The team as a whole will also go on to win all 3 formats on this tour which includes their first ever Test series win in the Caribbean under the leadership of Misbah Ul Haq. Winning the Test series and creating some history ultimately will be the main objective of the 8 match tour which all gets under way with this T20 encounter.

Unearthing some young guns and discovering some top notch finds will be an area Waqar Younis will be focussing on too. I am tipping Hammad Azam and Junaid Khan specifically to do brilliantly and become the "next big name" in the eventful world of Pakistan Cricket.

Series Predicitions

T20-Pakistan win
ODIs-4/1 Pakistan win
Tests-1/0 Pakistan win

All in all its exiting times. Fans can expect good performances, but must be patient with the newcomers rather than being rushed into making any exaggerated judgement and calling for the recalls of past players if they happen to fail. A transition process can take time to develop and has the potential to pay off richly over time. All newcomers have admirable potential to do wonders for Pakistan cricket and go on to achieve plenty and replace some high achieving names, but expecting miracles from them straight away is unreasonable. Futuristic planning and sticking by the new faces is the best way forward. Lets bear in mind they have all reached where they are for a reason and obviously therefore possess some undiscovered credentials.

Hammad Azam Time!

The long term replacement for Abdul Razzaq and one of the future stars of Pakistan cricket. NBP all rounder Hammad Azam has been named in the ODI team for the tour of the WI. He is a batting all rounder. He was part of the 2010 ICC WT20 squad but did not get a game. He was Pakistan's stand out performer during the 2010 ICC Under 19 WC where he scored an unbeaten 90 odd under pressure during the semi final. Generally regarded as a match winner and future gem. He was also the second leading wicket taker during the 2010 domestic T20 tournament with 8 wickets in 3 matches. Good to see him finally get selected. The timing is right.

Recently he scored 3 half centuries in 7 50 over Matches to help NBP reach the final in the National One Day competition at a brilliant average of 70.

He has a wide variety of shots and scoring options and has shown in A tours and in the U19 WC that he can carry the bat and handle match situations very maturely and responsibly. He has the capability to hit the ball a long way and clear the ropes by taking on a calculated risk if the situation requires.

From my observations he is a flexible batting option who will have his good days and will fit in very nicely into this current ODI team. I was even optimistically pushing for his inclusion in the ODI team for the WC but that was not to be and as a matter of fact he did not even find a place in the preliminary 30 man squad.

As far as his bowling goes he is a wicket taking option. He has pace and height and can move the ball but tends to be expensive and wayward as well. He played in English league cricket last year and got an opportunity to bowl in different conditions and a further opportunity to work on his bowling which seemed to pay off.

Nonetheless, he is an exciting prospect and one that is bound to go far if he handles the intensity of international cricket and is given a good opportunity to show his worth. He is a tall young man from Attock with no shortage of talent or temperament.

Random Thoughts

1)Just a week to go till the verdict of the trio is revealed. Expect the worst. Let's hope justice prevails. The credibility and integrity of the game is the biggest winner of all. Cricket Zindabad. Pakistan Zindabad.

2)It has been exactly a year since the under 19 World Cup final between Australia and Pakistan 2010.

3)It has been a year since Afridi decided to physically bite the cricket ball at Perth.

28/01/11 National One Day Tournament Updates

Hammad Azam is pictured

Domestic updates 28/01/11

In the ongoing domestic National one day competition between various cities and departmental sides here are some of the key individual performances worth highlighting in the various matches which were contested around the country today.

-Imran Farhat scored 150 for HBL.

-Fawad Alam scores 78*captaining NBP.

-Young emerging fast bowler Mohammad Talha claimed excellent figures of 6-38.

-Young future all round prospect Hammad Azam scored 54 for NBP to add to his 93* in the previous fixture he played in.

-Imran Nazir scored 51 and claimed 3 wickets.

- Highly rated Ghani scored 105* for PIA.