The Pakistan Cricket Board, on Thursday, announced the national squads for next month’s tour of Sri Lanka. Three separate teams were announced for all three formats of the game, with Mohammad Hafeez being appointed captain for the Twenty20 squad in place of Misbah-ul-Haq.
Besides the change at the helm of the T20 squad, a few surprise recalls were handed out to players previously discarded from the national side. These included Mohammad Sami, Imran Farhat, Tanvir Ahmed, Faisal Iqbal, Sohail Tanvir, Khalid Latif and Yasir Arafat.
Some uncapped players have also been selected for the different parts of the tour, including Haris Sohail, Raza Hasan, Shakeel Ansar, Rahat Ali, Ayub Dogar and Afaq Raheem.
The selection has been met with a varying reaction from the cricket fans. While some have hailed the replacement of Misbah by Hafeez, others have said Shahid Afridi should have been given the reins. The opportunities provided to domestic performers have been welcomed, especially in the Twenty20 squad where players like Shakeel Ansar and Haris Sohail stood out in recent tournaments.
The most controversial decision, however, has been that of the recalls.
Which players deserved another chance to perform for the national side?
Who should have been dropped?
Which of the new faces are the best prospects for Pakistan?
Is Mohammad Hafeez the right choice to lead Pakistan in the future?
Dawn.com invites its readers to express their views and debate the team selection…
Thank you for the good writeup. It if truth be told was a leisure account it. Look advanced to more brought agreeable from you! However, how could we be in contact?
Shahid afridi for T20 and One day and Misbah for test
Captain for T20 and One Day should be Afridi as everybody knows his loyalty to the nation and fro Test Matches Misbah ul Haq
I am in favour of Shoaib Malik for T20 captain because of his success percentage and experience in domestic T20 tounaments over the years. Hafiz should be given the captainship of ODI. I think in absence of Misbah and Younus there should be a place for Asad shafique in T20 team. Shoaib malik should be included in ODI. M.Sami and Khalid Latif’s selection should be appreciated keeping their performance in this format.Fawad Alam should have been given a chance in test team. Imran Farhat selection is not acceptable. Faisal Iqbal’s selection in test is good thinking.Shohail Yanvir is very erratic bowler and do not have variety in his bowling.Yasser Arfat is alrounder but did not produce for Pakistan.Inclusion of Raza hassan was overdue.Harris Shohail seems to be a good batsman and have temperment.Ayub Dogar,Afaq Raheem and Rehmat Ali’s selection are on their domestic performance.I want to see Zia ul Haque as future fast bowler and he should have been given a chance. One thing which bother me is the age of these new comers.
Well I think Hafeez was the only choice and a gud one as well. Misbah and afridi are not going to play the next world cup. So hafeez is a gud and sensible man to lead team pakistan in next world cup. i think hafeez should also be given the responsibility of captaincy in ODIs. As far as selection is concerned, farhat has done nothing to be selected nor he will do in future. fresh blood is needed and introduction of new faces is a gud move. Now the bench is strong and players have to perform consistently to secure their places in playing eleven……….All in all, it looks like that pakistan cricket is on right track.
Best of luck to Hafeez and Co…..
Of all the discarded players, Yousuf deserves to be recalled more than anyone else…
Totally agree!
why imran nazir not in the squad
Well i think for test misba is a good captin infact he is a perfect for test matches…. He shud himself realise that he is not fit for the other formats of the game and shud anounce retirement from t20 and odis… Yes few recalls of players are surprising like fasal iqbal and farhat…. Yousof shud have been included and ofcourse imran nazir shud have been given a chance in the national team… For t20 team umar akmal is the best choice as captain and for odi’s is shahid afridi????? Hope slectors think abt it and afcource kamran akmal deserve a place ….
Umar Akmal best for T20 captain? what are you on man. Best choice for T20 and ODI is only one guy and his name is Abdul Razak.
Why not Imran Nazir?? he deserves a spot in Pakistan T20 team more than anyother batsman. Finally, we have this t20 format developed in cricket to include players like him. He can really be someone great.
Hafeez doesn’t convince as a player let alone as a captain. he isn’t good enough technically or consistent enough (especially in recent matches) to be in the curernt team.
All three should not have been recalled. There is universal consensus among all Pakistani fans on this issue. This is a really backward step and a return to the type of selections that happened in the past and which is very surprising since it appeared that we had mopved on from those days. Sami is well past his prime and he didn’t even make the grade when he was selected. The only consistent thing about him is his consistent failures. How can he be accomodated in the team as a bowler? Plus his fielding is still woeful (who can ever forget, let alone forgive) his dropping of Sehwag all those years ago when the latter went on to score a triple century and thereby ending Saqlain’s career in the process? Both he and Faisal Iqbal lack the requisite mental tougness to succeed at this level. And remember he dropped Yuvraj off a skier and the batsman also went on to score a hundred?! As for Imran farhat, he is also inconsistent and too flashy to be be a very good player.
i think muhammad hafeez will be the great captain….because we have seen so long that shahid afridi was not play the roll of good captain as well as the good player… so it would be a good decision by juiry of cricket to give chance other players…
I think the biggest blunder the selectors have done is to recall Faisal Iqbal and Imran Farhat who by no standards desrve a place in National team.It is height of Nepotism that both are selected because both are related to Ex Paksitan Test Players.I dont know how many chances they are going to give to these two to ignore many desrving poor players because they have no such Corrupt people to back.Allah May help Paksitan to get rid of this corruption.
Mohammed Yousuf should have been included. Imran Farhat is a surprising inclusion, he should have been axed permanently. Question mark on Faisal Iqbal though he is from Karachi but more Karachites players should have been included. Can we have two national teams -a Punjabi team and Pakistani team?
There is only one team called PAKISTAN TEAM which includes Sindhi, muhajir, punjabi, pakhtoon etc.
BE PAKISTANI
I think making Hafeez captain for t20 is not good . He is already in 30’s . A player of age somewhere 25 must have been best choice . He can serve pakistan hardly for 4 or 5 years after Misbah retirment . Instead of having younis khan in odi malikor azam was the best choice . In test cricket azhar must have ben best vice captain . For odi umar akmal is best as responsibilitu wil make him mature like dho i
I can smile discrimination and racism when i looked at the announcement made by selection board especially Waqar comments. There are not making shahid Afridi captain who has won the t20 world cup for Pakistan. Shame on them instead they are making Hafiz who still need to learns how to play against strong opposition. Hafiz is professor and he has lot of knowledge about cricket but the problem is that he cannot be even compared with Afridi. Selection board and Waqar type people are jealous and they want to take out the revenge from Afridi. What Afridi has done wrong he just stood against wrong people. Big shame on people of Pakistan who watch cricket and PCB—- It was good that Imran left the cricket after world cup 1992 because they would do the same with him too…. Shame on selector and people like Waqar……
I think Misbah is only fit for test cricket for may be a year or so. Afridi should have been given the captaincy for both odi and t20 teams. Hafeez is not a consistent performer at any level plus he is very talkative and gives advice on any thing related to cricket hence the title Professor. Faisal Iqbal is spent force, he had enough oppurtunites to show his mettle but failed miserably. I believe Hassan Raza should have been a better choice. Yasser Arafat should have been in the team long time ago. He deserves a spot both in ODI and T20 teams. Sami is the outstanding performer both in domestic circles and BPL and deserve to be given more oppurtunities. Some of the fast bowlers like Cheema and Tanvir Ahmed and Sohail Tanveer are simply ordinary and cannot win a match on thier own where as if Sami is in his mettle he can wins marches for Pakistan.
You consider Afridi to be consistent?
He is too immature to play at a National level.
Without Kamran Akmal Sami will be fine hopefully. He is a fastest bowler of current Pakistan bowlers. Better than Sohail tanweer, Wahab Riaz, Yasir Arafat, Aziz Cheema.
We need a pace bowler, we do not have any pace bowler accept Omar Gul but Omar Gul performance is not constant.
I hope Adnan AKmal wil not reat same as his brother
Fawad Alam, Hammad Azam, Anwar Ali, Hasan Raza & Shahhzeb Hasan should be in.
Faisal Iqbal, Imran Farhat, Yasir Arfat, Sohail Tanveer, Mohammad Irafn and Adnan Akmal should be out.
Afridi should be captain for T20.
Misbah should be retire from One day cricket.
PuthonKhawn
Inclusion of Imran Farhat is worst. Faisal Iqbal passed the time, no doubt he was a fine player and PCB did not give him proper chancees but now its too late. Sami deserves back in the team, He is a Pakistan fastest bowler plus he had a wonderful seasons in last two years with bat and ball.
If Kamran Akmal was not his keeper he was probably never dropped from the team. Akmal dropped at least 35 catches on his bowling.
I surprise why Fawad Alam did not consider for any type of cricket. He has over 40 averages in both Test and One Day version of cricket. He scored 160 plus runs in his first test inning against Sri Lankan in Sri Lanka but now he was dropped against Sri Lanka. Very Strange, gross. Fawad Alam always got second class citizen treatment from the PCB officails. Another victim is Shahzeb Hasan. He sholuld be regular opener in One day and T20 matches. Rameez raja jr should be in T20 team. Yasir Arfat and Sohail Tanveer are the big PURCHI. Hammad Azam should be given proper chances.
Dawar > LA < USA
Inwas really surprised at the inclusion of imran farhat. Afridi should have been made a captain for t20. What is biggest surprise to me is why Hammad Azam was not picked. I think there was a definite place for him in t20 and odi side
This is so hilarious that while we all read and do a deeper analysis on the decisions of selection committee, we all know or can guess how players are picked and dropped based on non-meritorious grounds but superior skills than cricket talent.
Is there any thinking? logic ? common sense? Or even a long term planning? Noooooo!. It’s all money mafia.
Take for e.g, misbah responsible for giving away semi final and other matches well protected. Afridi tortured for speaking up against wrong doings. Shoaib malik’s connections are enough for selection and so are imran farhat’s. Abdul razzak an undisputed match winner with still 5-6years career left continues to be ignored. Recalling yousf is a joke. Board ruined assets like Shoaib akhtar rather than coaching and nurturing discipline.10 captains in 2 years. Changing captain middle of west Indies series. Axeing mohsin khajuraho perhaps for not being party to match fixing. Javed miandad getting million a month for shutting his mouth……..Pakistan only country where president has more interest in appointing board president than flooding, to control all money racket……. need I go on ?
20/20 is physically very demanding; much more than 50 overs. Although Misbah is a good captain, at 38, his agility and reflexes are not the same as they were when he was 25 or 30. I think Afridi would have made a good 20/20 captain. He can get players to give their very best. I am not sure Hafeez has the same aura and charisma that is so essential in a captain especially in Pakistan.
Hafeez is a strong minded and composed player. I wish he is as successful as a captain as he is as a player. If he doesnt prove tobe good, Pakistan should bring in Shahid Afridi instead of reverting back to misbah.
WHY FARHAT AND NO IMRAN NAZIR! Nazir always gets a couple of matches and then side lined with one excuse or another. Its almost like some people fear his natural unihibited style of play. He is the sort who neeeds to be given the confidence of a consisitent run of 8-10 games and he will win you atleast 2 single handedly. Farhat on the other hand despite his mediocrity keeps getting a place. International commentators even comment on this anamoly that Nazir can walk into most 20-20 sides in the word barring Pakistan!! WHY?????? As for Faisal Iqbal- Hasan Raza is of the same age and has a lot more class and much better first class average! We all know why Faisal is in? Sami is bowling well these days but he has the worst Test average for a fast bolwer with 25 Tests or more in WOrld cricket. This is a Wisden Statistic. Just shows how many chances he has got! I would groom Anwer ALi -