Despite WADA's posturing, both Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif will be available next year and that leaves Pakistan with an unimagined selection problem. Umar Gul, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, and Mohammad Sami--yes the bowler who couldn't bowl two balls on the same spot--have all made indisputable cases for selection. As has Abdur Rehman, who has been nothing short of sensational in this series. At Karachi, on a wicket that favoured batsmen, he bowled an intelligent line, even keeping Brian Lara in check. That fills six places.

Among the batsmen, Yasir Hameed has shown enough to earn a place along with Mohammad Hafeez. Follow those with the inevitable selections of Pakistan's middle-order trio of Inzamam, Younis Khan, and Mohammad Yousuf and you have five more places with people's names on them.

Among the allrounders, Shoaib Malik, Abdul Razzaq, and Kamran Akmal--providing he continues to rebuild his confidence in South Africa--are virtual certainties, which builds the squad to 14.

That only leaves one place, and you can see why Woolmer is claiming that the squad selection is becoming clearer, although this final spot might prove controversial. Imran Farhat, Faisal Iqbal, and Danish Kaneria, to name but a few, will be saying their prayers. Who will win a trip to the Caribbean? It could be any of those three but it might be a wild card, and Pakistan has no wilder card than Shahid Afridi. He'd win my vote--as you all know--and I suspect he might even win the vote of the selectors.

Much can happen, of course, between this December speculation and the reality of next March but barring major upheavals I wouldn't bet on Pakistan's World Cup squad being much different to this. It is a squad of experience but also enough youth to hunger for success. The bowling riches are the team's strength and the batting should not be found wanting on the Asian wickets of the West Indies. The rest is all mind games. Over to you Bob and Inzi.

I don't usually post comments that include team XIs or squads but since that is what this article is about then feel free to speculate.

I to think that the final spot should go to afridi, because he is valuble in the field to a side that has been known to lack in that department, he's fast leg breaks and variations could also prove to be vital on the westindies pitches and on his day there is no doubting that he is the most destructive batman the world of cricket has ever produced. But i disagree with you, Kamran, when you say that sami should get a spot in the squad because you are forgetting one bowler whos suspenssion is comming to an end, Shabir Ahmed, I think shabir should be offered the last bowlers spot, and i also think he should be picked for the tour of south africa.

i have my doubts about shahid afridi . he was provided with an oppurtunity but hasn't performed well so i think it will be injustice not to give the other players a chance which they deserve .

Gotta agree with you Kamran. I think its about time we DROP Imran Farhat. I am impressed with Rahman and I just dont understand that if he was so good back in the 1999 why the heck we picked Kaneria over him!!!! I hope our selectors start taking some good pills now.

Well, there is no doubt that Abdur Rehman is a sensation and he really earned his spot in the team. He is a brilliant bowler, gives our team more depth in bowling which makes us a formidable bowling line-up and most importantly he is specialist. And debating on the last spot, i believe that even though Afridi failed in his last appearance, he shoudl be in the team its just a matter of time when he can get back in his groove. I would pick Shahid Afridi over Faisal Iqbal, Imran Farhat, and Danish Kaneria. Because he is one of our main player.

My team for World cup 1)Yasir Hameed 2)Hafeez 3)Yunis 4)Yusaf 5)Imzimam 6)Shaib Malik 7)Razaq 8)Kamran akmal9)Shoiab Akhtar 10)Asif 11)Rana Naveed
12)Umar Gul 13)Shabir14)Abdur Rehman 15)Shahid Afridi--SAME TEAM FOR SOUTH AFRICA

Team should not play Shahid Afridi along with Hafeez,Shoiab malik and abdul razzaq because then team becomes too vulnerable to falter with all these four allrounders none specialized to perform in a given department (bowling/batting). Would then be better to either pick a specialist bowler/batsman for the last spot.

the final spot in your squad should go to Faisal Iqbal, no need for two specialist spinners so a no to kaneria and with regards to that man Afridi please we have simply had enough of waiting for him to produce something and it upsets the balance of the team as he is only really useful as an opening batsman. In addition his commitment has been questionable of late and therefore the place should go to a younger, hungrier Faisal Iqbal.
By the way great to see Yasir Hameed back in the fold !!

This is going to be a test for Selectors and they should use their senses properly according to conditions of SA.Also its good they can have backup bowlers because southafrica is a place where bowlers are vulerable to injuries.

Absolutely slam dunk observation !!

Imran Farhat should be dropped, Here is the squad from my side ...

. Muhammad hafeez
. Kamran Akmal or Yasir hameed
. Younis Khan
. Muhammad Yousaf
. Inzamamul Haq
. Shoaib Malik
. Abdul Razzaq
. Shahid Afridi or Abdul Rehman
. Shoaib Akhtar
. Muhammad Asif
. Rana naveed Or Umar Gul

wow.. the squad looks special on paper...

what's really required is how they actually play on the field...

i really feel Shoaib is not to be ignored or cast aside.. he's a real gem and a match winner provided he keeps his emotions in the right direction.

Fingers crossed...
but cheering the Green and White to go all the way !!!

I think the team for the SA tour (only for Onedayers) & WC should be the same. Allowing them to settled before the WC. My team goes:

1. Mohammed Hafeez
2. Yasser Hameed
3. Younis Khan
4. Mohammed Yousuf
5. Inzamam Ul Haque
6. Shahid Afridi
7. Shoaib Malik
8. Abdul Razzak
9. Kamran Akmal
10. Abdur Rehman
11.Rana Naved
12. Umar Gul
13. Mohammed Asif
14. Shoaib Akhter

I believe that no matter how poor Afridi's form is, he should be included in the One-day team. Becoz, if we look at the team there is not a single player who is a big hitter of the ball except Abdul Razzak, who I thinks has lost his touch both in bowling & batting he don't deserve a place in the team but, I am sure Inzi wants him.

Afridi should be played at no. 5 or 6.

With Rana bagging man of series, Shoaib and asif coming back, Umar Gul being the best bowler of season and Razzaq being an almost certainty to Be included in squad we have five pace bowlers which does not leave a slot for Sami. I agree he has bowled ok in last matches but I dont think he has done enough to warrant a place in side, as yet. Despite recent poor form leaving Afridi out of squad will be foolish. If Farhat can get so many chances and Akmal being selected despite his poor run due to his allround potential, Why drop Afridi. Bob Woolmer likes Afridi and Shoaib Malik and they will find themselves on the plane and very rightly so. Yusuf, Younis and Inzi pick themselves. This builds the squad to 12. 4 more places one should go to Abdul rehman. We will need a spinner in West Indies. Hafeez after todays performance will and should be selected. Yasir and probably Faisal. So my squad is not vastly different from yours. Hwoever the best thing is that both squads are strong and very well balanced, bring on australia on neutral soil.

Pakistan have some fantastic options for next year, Shabbir also will become available soon. I feel that Afridi is a useful man to have in the squad. His flexibility in the ODIs is handy, and his experience in this competition is also an advantage to an exciting squad.

Definitively an enviable position Pakistan finds itself in. I’m not sure what Sami has done to earn a trip to the Caribbean though (averaging 30 with 6 wickets in 06)? With Malik, Razzaq and everyone’s sentimental favorite Afridi in the fold, Pakistan would have enough all-rounder support to back up the bowling effort (I’m not suggesting Pakistan play all three in the same game). With Afridi in, Sami out, the final spot would be left for Faisal Iqbal and Imran Farhat to fight over. My vote would be with Iqbal, because with Afridi in the team, you don’t need another batsman than plays on a wing and prayer.

Yeah, I will also go with Afridi as well, because without him i dont enjoying watching Cricket that much, but anywhy Kamran your comment about Sami and co-bowllers was very funny. "the bowler who couldn't bowl two balls on the same spot--have all made indisputable cases for selection"..

my squad for one day side is inzamam,younis,yousef,afridi,yasir hameed,hafeez,razzaq,shoaib malik,umar gul,shaoib akhtar,mohd.asif,rana naved,abdul rahman,shahid yousef ,kamran akmal ok .......and for test team is inzamam,younis,yousef,imran farhat ,yasir hameed,hafeez,razzaq,shoaib malik,umar gul,shoaib akhtar,mohd.asif,shahid nazir,asim kamal,faisal iqbal,shabbir ahmed.....and also pass ur comment on my section sami n iftikar rao dropped due to bad bowling with west indies n england okk

i hope and pray that they do not leave out shahid afridi. on those asiatic-like windies wickets he could win matches single handedly with bat and ball.

it is time to get rid of faisal iqbal, imran farhat.

And finally i hope that bob woolmer, inzamam and the selectors see the sense that shoaib and asif are indespensible match winners.

We need to give Salman Butt and Imran Nazir another chance. They have been performing consistently at the domestic level. These are two players with tremendous talent and i think are the solution to our opening problem for the World Cup and beyond !!!

I think Shaid Afridi shall be part of South Africa squad as well as for Worldcup.I hope that he will regain his form in upcming tour.

Well I disagree with you Kamran. I think we shouldn't forget Afridi & Shabbir contribution in the past for the Pakistan. Unfortunately, Afridi is not in a good touch due to lot of up & downs in the no. As far Shabbir is concern he is the best choice under 14 final players for World Cup.

There is no need to have sami, gul, rana, shoaib and asif! never going to play 5 seemers. Razzaq and Malik - can't be dropped. My team would be: Hafeez/Hameed, Akmal, Khan, Yousaf, Inzi, Malik, Razaq, Rehman/Afridi, Rana, Shoaib, Asif. Other two places in squad go to Gul and Arafat .....

This Pakistan team, on paper looks unbeatable. But, cricket isn't played on papaer. As for Afridi getting the all rounders slot, he's got to show his worth. It's no good making a quickfire 30, he needs 50's and 100's. Asif, Akhtar and Gul should be our main bowlers, with Rana offering swing. Rehman should be the spinner, while Sami and Shabbir can be good backups. As for the openers, Hafeez has one good innings in a blue moon, while Akmal isn't a opener. I think Hammed deserves a go, and Farhat is getting better.

the playing 11 for me would be :1- Mohammed Hafeez,2-Shahid Afridi,3-younus khan,4-Mohammed Yousuf,5-Inzamam ul Haq,6-Shoaib Malik,7-Abdul Razzaq,8-Kamran Akmal,9-Rana Naved,10-Shoaib Akhtar,11-Mohammad Asif.the 5 reserve should be Yasir Hameed,Abdul Rehman,Umar Gul,Shabbir Ahmed OR Faisal Iqbal. since the carribean picthes are not quite like austrailians or southafrican picthes i think Afridi should Thrive,also he did pretty well on the last tour to the carribean.Abdul Razzaq is known for "not coming forward" i think south africa should suit him cuz of the bounce and the backfoot player he is .

These all thinkings and talks will be remain here. Because these all performances and skills remains here when Our Heros make fly to SA.

I almost agree with you to have Afridi in. Farhat was more lucky in scoring runs here. But as Ajmal says, Shabbir should be there in place of Sami. Rest assured Team Pakistan will do well, Inshallah.
Good Luck Pakistan, we are all with you...

nice selection kamran..i just wish that the selectors read the above article before making the selection for the worldcup..it would indeed make their job relatively easier.Shahid Afridi is actually the "sizzling ingredient" for pakistan's success at the World Cup.The rest chose themselves..especially with the "find of the series" abdur rehman..danish kaneria can buy himself a LCD TV to watch the world cup at home.I am very happy with the return of Rana and Sami.Both were serving pakistan team well until last year and went thru a lot of criticism but hav managed to prove their worth.Rana,sami,shoaib,asif and gul should be taken to South Africa to give them a chance and futher bolster their confidence before the BIG TRIP

I also agree with you kamran. i think the last spot should go to shahid afridi. He hasn't been in the best of form but he is such a destructive player that you have to have him in your squad. If Pakistan do play him I think they should let him open because in that psoition he can play freely and be most effective. If he scores quick runs then Pakistan can put up big totals. The last spot for a fast bowler should go to either Rana or Gul in my opinion. If Shabbir bowls well in South Africa then it will be a tough decision.

AA
You have picked the squad - almost. Drop A. Razzaq. D. Kaneria has no room. I.Farhat stays home. I'd include S.Butt. S.Akhtar and Asif are to play. R. Naved-ul-Hasan and U.Gul belong in any team.
With all this potential and a convincing win in the last ODI we still cant let the guard down. Its different terrain in Africa.
Good luck.

I am digruntled with the following comments by Kamran " Despite WADA'S posturing......". Let me ask you this.. As a man of science and medicene, do you think it is ethical for shoaib and asif to go scot free? Should they be in the team? Osman samiudin doesnt think so. Read his articles DR. ABBASI!

I feel they should take 15 to South Africa and keep with that squad for the World Cup barring injury. I am not convinced about likes of Hafeez though and Farhat - surely Butt is the man to deliver abroad. And Kaneria is the best spinner and would be one of the first names on my team sheet - one day cricket or not.

Butt, Younis, Yousuf, Inzamam, Malik, Razzaq, Akmal, Rana, Shoaib, Asif, Kaneria, Gul, Rehman, Hafeez, Arafat

I agree with most of your selection there Kamran. However, I would definately find a place for Salman Butt in my World Cup squad. One - because he's a good young opener and secondly, because he is a left hander and we need a left hander in our line up. My World Cup Squad would be, Inzamam, Yousef, Younis, Salman Butt, Mohammad Hafeez, Yasir Hameed, Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal, Abdur Razzaq,Shoaib Akhter,Mohammad Sami,Umar Gul,Rana Naveed,Danish Kaneria. I would pick Kaneria over Rehman simply because I think Rehman has been flattered by a poor West Indies batting display over the last few games,and will struggle against top sides like Australia. Kaneria is a proven commodity against top teams and should therefore get the nod ahead of Rehman for the World Cup. Although I doubt whether we will be playing any specialist spinner in our 11 during the world cup. Hafeez and Malik are likely to be in the final 11 and they do a good enough job between them so I dont really think we're going to sacrifice a batter to play Kaneria or Rehman. Finally, a word about Imran Farhat - bye bye Imran. Have fun in domestic cricket and continue giving catching practice to the keeper and the boys in the slips.

I think our selectors are in a pickle.

First elven
Hafeez, Kamran, Younis, Yousaf, Inzi, Malik, Razzaq, Afridi, Rana, Asif, Rahman.

Reserves:
Shoiab Akhtar, Umar gul, Farhat, Afridi

Provided they hold their catches and remain fit.
Good luck Team Pakistan

I agree with practically all your selections barring one. I think Mohammaad Sami should not be in the squad. Sami has repeatedly been given opportunities and failed on the bigger stage, only to reattract our interest with relatively good performances. But the fact of the matter is the pakistan team would play Shoaib, Asif, Rana as well as Umar Gul ahead of him. And if we need to replace another bowler, I would suggest Shabbir Ahmed; with his height, Shabbir manages to extract bounce that Sami would not be able to. Of course Shabbir will have to convince selectors that he will not be no-balled. I also think Pakistan should employ a rotation policy in the earlier round (prior to the super-eight,) in order to give all their players a chance to acclimatize. This will also keep our stalwarts liek Shoaib fresh and raring to go when the going really gets tough; after all, do we really need the likes of Shoaib, Asif and Yousuf to prove themselves? We know they will come good, so let's prepare the others incase the worse case scenario transpires; we lose one of our strike bowlers or batsmen to injury.

The Pakistan team looks in good shape, but they must be careful against complacency. Only five months ago the Indian team seemed like a scary prospect, but a combinatino of complacency and injuries has mipacted them deeply enough to greatly injure their chances at the world cup. Let's not let the same thing happen to our boys.

Jia You!

There is no room for SAMI and FARHAT and AFRRIDI.
Shabir and Rahman shold be in the squad.
Hafeez is working very hard and i strongly belive if they let him play for a while he will become a good solid opener.In my mind i think ASIF RANA SHOAIB and SHABIR and then RAZAAQ with RAHMAN is very strong attack. MALIK and HAFEEZ can open and also provide bowlling support. what you think

given the above team and the dropping of imran farhat also suggest that pakistan would go into the worldcup with no left handed specialist batsman with the lone abdur rehman in the tail.Left hand ..Right hand combinations have proved to break the bowler's rhythm .but then again hafeez and hameed are much more reliable than farhat and afridi should be in the team

I really dont agree with you on this one. I agree that you can pick most of it, but to say that only one spot is up for grabs is false. How can you think that Abdur Rehman and Yasir Hameed are sure picks? Abdur Rehman has had one good series, and Yasir had two decent innings! We are talking about the world cup here. I need more proof that these guys are up for the task. Also, the opening problem is far from sorted. Granted Hafeez has played well, btu the other spot is wide open. Farhat? Butt? Akmal? Afridi? The squad is far from clear.

My squad for the world cup would be as follows:

Salman Butt, Yasir Hameed, Younis Khan, Inzamam, Yousuf, Shoaib Malik, Razzaq, Afridi, Kamran Akmal, Rana, Gul, Asif, Shoaib, Sami and Kaneria.

I cant understand why ppl have forgotten aboy Salman Butt just recall his century in Australia, and a couple of hundreds under pressure and youll realise how good a player he really is.

Basically i would agree with most of Kamran's teasm but would take out Hafeez and put in butt. Hafeez has done nothing memomarable and his records both in first class cricket and international are mediocre at best. Imran Farhat is a totally useless batsman - poor technique, pathetic shot selection, irresponsible, poor timing and a very average record.

Although i have to give abdul rehman credit for how he has bowled he is still raw and someone to go to the worlde cup with only handful of ODI matches is a risk - Kaneria a much better option as he is a matchwinning leg spinner - just hasn't been given enough oppurtunities to shine in ODI's.

I think Shabbir shud go to South Africa to see wot his made of but hell need something remarkable to sneek in the squad. The next in line after these 15 that i have picked who could make the squad with injuries to others or poor form etc would be Shabbir, Yasir Arafat(he is equivalent to Wasim Akram as a number 8 batsman) Azhar Mahmood and Saqlain Mushtaq.
However the latter two are unrealistic given pcb has messed their careers up.

sahid afridi ofcours he is no 1 hit or miss but i like him thats why i watched all matches if he is not select i am not that is only reason all player play in same way why we watch them but he always i know he is not making run now but touch up series vs WI in 2005 he is the hero WC coimg soon if afridi is not there sorry i am going to miss

i think the following squad would be ideal for pakistan:
Op: Akmal (WK) Hafeez (HANDY ALL ROUNDER)
MID: Inzi,Yousuf Younus (THREE BIGGIES) and Hameed (RECENT SCORES IN THE LAST COUPLE OF MATCHES)
LOW: Malik,(BRILLIANT FIELDER) Razzaq and Afridi (HITTING ABILITIES)
Bowling: Abdul-Rehman, Asif, Akhtar, Gul and rana

I totally agree Afridi should be in the squad because of his all round abilities, mental toughness and high level of commitment.And for those who will be left out becuase of this, I can only say that it is not a matter of fairness to the individual player, which has to be looked at but rather the good of the Pakistan team. Teams interest should held supreme, and selection should be based entirely based on this factor and nothing more. Fairness or unfairness is of no consequence in these matters.

100% Agreed with your selection. Afridi is the most hungry and the true talent who can easily improve pakistan chances of winning. Cricket has a bit depedency on psyche. The way Lara was celebrating Afridi's wicket in Multan, I am sure Afridi has its own scare around the world. Afridi and Shoaib and Y DUO in the middle order will be the key to success.
GOOD LUCK PAKISTAN..

We have to hope and pray (really really hard) that these players stay in form, unlike those of other teams. They have to keep the momentum gong. It is at once a good and bad predicament to be in - you choose 3 bowlers from any of the 5 available (rotate depending on match cruciality, pitch conditions etc). What an awesome situation to be in! You have the trio in yousuf, Younis and Inzamam, and ofcourse Kamran Akmal. You can choose to open with two from Yasir, Hafeez and Farhat. Then you choose two from Afridi, Razzaq, Rehman and Malik. Oh man - suddenly, Inzamam leaving does not seem to be leaving THAT BIG a gap!

There is absolutely no way Afridi should be on the squad. Though not known for his consistency, he has been very consistent in performing poorly in the last year. Yet his place has been virtually unquestioned until this series. This just shows the selectors bias for him because he can pull crowds. With Abdur Rehman performing so well and Hafeez also doing good, we have enough spinners to not need Afridi as a bowler and his batting has been woeful enough to not even get him on a Zimbabwe team, let alone a Pakistan team.

yar how much ,how much and finally how much chances does afridi needs? from 1996 he has played a large number of odi games and i think afer inzmam he is the senior player in the squad but how much he made total score in odi,s just below 3000 runs shame man!

I want Afridi in both South Africa and World Cup Squad.

Your absolutly right, drop Farhat cos he is a flasher, i mean the guy does not no where his off stump is. bring someone with a solid technique. Saleem Elahi should definetly be given another chance. where has he disappeared too?

Totally agree with the selection and it shouldn't be a big task to pick Afridi ahead of others for the last spot, because of the fact that he will bring variety as an only leg spinner in the squad, fire power that could change the dynamic of the game in 2-3 overs, energy to the legargic field department with likes of Razzaq, Yousaf and Inzi, and above all he can provide some crucial break through.

Yes, the bowling dept seems to be well packed with some delightful resources. But for the batting, I believedropping Farhat would be a mistake. Why drop a batsman who's been performing well for us? Are we saving him as a specialist Test opener?

Granted his stroke play is a bit streaky in the ODI's, but so was Saeed Anwar. People (especially Pakistani's) have always loved a player who lives on the edge of a sword. Which is why we love Afridi as well. On the "Asian pitches" of the Caribbean, Farhat might become as big a trump card as Afridi himself - and a bit more consistent!

I'm not saying pick Farhat over Afridi. Both these players are "trump cards" in my book. But I wouldn't pick Hameed over Farhat just because of a couple of good home performances.

Its a difficult selection delima. But I think the SA tour will answer a lot more questions (and make things a lot clearer) for the WC team selection.

I think the final spot should go to the left hand opener Imran Farhat. Shahid has been provided lots of opportunities (200+ games)but has shown no improvement in his temperament and batting skills. Besides we have a very fine left hand leg spinner in Abdul Rehman who has an excellent performance in the recently concluded series with Windies.So this completes the squad for the world cup.

I don't agree with Ajmal when he says that Shabbir Ahmed should be given a place in the side. This bowler has always struggled with no balls and wides and has no match practice. I think Pakistan would be taking a risk with Shabbir. Afridi for the SA tour: I don't think he is the right choice for SA because of his past record. He has never done well against them and that too on their home ground where the wickets are bowling friendly. I think Afridi would be a miserable FLOP. Maybe rest him for the SA tour and get him to play local league matches so he can be ready for the World Cup. I think Pakistan is going to win matches with their fast bowling and discipline more than anything else. Batsmen are going to have an uphill task so I think Batsmen with technique should be given more preference. eg. Yasir Hameed comes to mind. Razzaq needs to be told what is role is in the team and needs to stick to a game plan. I think that will be vital. Pakistan's past record here suggests that their middle-lower order have to fire like how Azhar Mehmood did with those 100s batting with the tail...in 97/98 if they can replicate that then who knows...

I think Shahid Afridi should be selected, even though he is very inconsistent, he is a game changing batsmen. This could be a great tool for Pakistan in the world cup. Other then that, the bowling attack looks awesome right now, if they can remain healthy I don't see how they can't bowl out any team in the world.

Well, like i v already mentioned in one of my earlier comments; Hafeez, Razzak, Shoaib Malik and Afridi are too many an all round option. Two of the spots in the playing eleven must b reserved for them. The new power play rule makes it mandatory that a team plays withn three strike pacers and use them in the power plays and the death overs. Unless one merges powerplays and death overs, which I feel that no captain has opted for yet! So three pacers, one spinner two all round options and one keeper. Hameed looks good for the number 3 position! 5 pacers (Akhter, Asif, Sami, Gul, Rana/Shabbir), 6 batsmen (Younis, Yousuf, Inzi, Hameed, Salman Butt, Imran Farhat), Kamran Akmal accounts for twelve positions. Razzaq, Malik and Hafeez are my 15.

It is graet to win the series against West Indies, but there has been too much shuffling on the top order. You may find logic for doing so, but Pak ha stried far too many combinations than necessary. Including any one player (opener) on the basis of one good inning or droping him fo rteh lack of it does not make any sense. It takes away the self confidence from the axed batsman.

Shahid Afridi is no doubt a match winner, and without much ado , the empty slot must go to him. His one off inning in Multan had a lack of match practice written all over it, and evn his fielding was very poor. I think once he is assured of his place in the final selection of the team, he will be a different player. Those against him must look at Inzi and younus's performances during the series against WI. We did not see the real Inzi in the whole series except the 2nd. ODI where there was a glimpse of his batting prowess, but will you drop him for poor form during this series while selecting the final team? There is no substitute for experience, and class. Where form is a temporary thing, class and experience are permanenet, and it will need only one fine knock by Afridi on the South African tour to get his form back. Afridi is a match winner and an eyesore for many a oponent. you need him to keep everybody on his toes. Bob and Inzi must back him up and give the much needed confidence for the sake of the team.

world Cup Squad

1. Muhammad Hafeez
2. Yasir Hameed
3. Younis Khan
4. Muhammad Yousaf
5. Inzamam ul Haq
6. Shoaib Malik
7. Abdul Razzaq
8. Kamran Akmal
9. Shahid afridi
10. Shoaib Akhter
11. Muhammad Asif
12. Rana Naveed
13. Umar Gul/ Shabbir Ahmad
14. Abdul rehman

I agree with Nabeel. He should make the squad though. I am hoping that he performs in SA. I am almost tempted to say that he should make the squad over razzaq. I dunno, these selections are just too difficult. If Afridi finds good form before the world cup, he needs to be automatically in the squad.

Oh yeah, Ajmal is right. You completely overlooked Shabbir Ahmed. I haven't been watching the current series, but I can imagine that Shabbir is still better than Sami.

We need to see the Pakistan weak areas, which are opening inconsistency and few sharp fielders, now Imran Farhat and Yasir Hameed prove to be most difficult selection, Imran has shown some good battin o in the recent series, Hafeez justifies his slot bcuz of his bowling, Shahid Afridi deserve the selection but only in Squad of 14, not in playing 11, for Shoaib if he proves more than 100 % fitness, then we should pick him. otherwise sorry for him, A Rahman also deserve a place

Thank you, Kamran, for helping out the selectors, if I may describe it as such. I entirely agree with you that the 14 named by you literally pick themselves. For the 15th spot, I would leave out Kaneria and Faisal Iqbal. Abdur Rehman on curent form is definitely the man for the specialist spinner's place in the team. If I hear the captain and the coach clearly, both would prefer him over Kaneria. So, the choice narrows down to elther Afridi or Imran Frhat. Leaving out Imran is not an easy decision but I would take it because Afridi is a very good wild card, besides being a versatile all rounder who, on his day, can turn a match around.

I assume that we are discussing here the squad of one days only because test squad for southafrica could be a little diferent from this. Keeping worldcup in mind, I would say Afridi is certain to get selected and we dont need five specialist fast bowlers along with razzaq. So i think sami would find it difficult to make it and we can have faisal iqbal as a backup batsman incase one of our big three middle order batsmen gets injured. Also i would still go with imran farhat instead of yasir hameed as farhat has been quite consistent recently.

Sometimes we do things not because we want to but because we have to...and that is we have to bite the nail and say Afredi has proven his worth as no ordinary player buut a match winner with bat, ball and fielding...and no class player like that can stay out of form too long. His time is just around the corner. Big mistake if Pakistan leaves him out of the tour of the World Cup.

i really beleive that you have simplified the squad selection a great deal.however it is to be noted that in WI the pitches are slow and offer assistance to slower bowlers who can make the batsman play early.the turn is there but its slow.therefore i feel both kaneria and rahman might be needed.also there is no need to have 5 pacers in the squad as at any time no more than 3 would play in a match apart from razzak.it would be hard for any of rana or gul to sit out so either sami or shabbir might have to make way for a specialist batsman.
i feel that the pakistan lacks specialist batsmen in its squad apart from the well know trio they only have yasir hameed.so its important to have faisal iaqbal instead of the 5th fast bowler in the squad.afridi cannot be overlooked easily because of his mutlidimensional abilities but his selection should be made after a lot of scrutiny for form as he can be disastrous for both opponents and pakistan if he misifires.he is like an allround version of sami.

I also agree on Afridi; afterall it was a little over a year ago when he was at his destructive best in India and with wickets in West Indies being probably the same, he could be very very valuable. He must be a regular member of the squad from now on so that he could recover his confidence. We have also had enough of Iman Farhatas well; even though he managed to score a few his knocks have been far from fluent, besides he never bats responsibly enough and almost always throws it away after doing the basic work and thats definitely not the way a top order batsman should play. On Sami i don't agree however; a couple of good performances can't cover months of average goings. Kaneria or another batsman might be a better option; four fast bowlers plus an Abdur Razzaq are enough. Other than that we just need the ruthlessness in intent and we could be unbeatable!

Yes, I agree with U Kamran, The Final Place should go to Afridi, but we need a spinner and that is Danish Kaneria i think its very difficult fkor selectors to choose Afridi or Kaneria.

Afridi is unpredictable, but a match winner and therefore he must be included.

it's a sweet dilemma, but Pakistan must not play too many all rounders and Shabir Ahmed must be given chance in South Africa for assessment...

Shahid Afridi must be included - He bowls to take wickets. Increases our overate. And bats to hit sixes, and increases our runrate. THATS Positive Cricket for you!

Rest of the squad, with the Abdur Razaq Problem, everything seems good:

Best XI:
01.Mohammad Hafeez
02.Yasir Hameed
03.Younis Khan
04.Mohammad Yousuf
05.Inzamam-ul-Haq*
06.Shoiab Malik
07.Abdur Razzaq
08.Kamran Akmal
09.Shoiab Akhtar
10.Abdur Rehman
11. Mohammad Asif

12.Shahid Afridi
13.Rana Naveed-ul-Hassan
14.Asim Kamal
15.Umar Gul

Naveed will need to replace Rehman or Razzaq at times.
Umar Gul must be in as a replacement.
Asim Kamal, well, we need a left hander who is better than Farhat and especially more solid.
And if Akmal Opens the innings. Afirid would make a good last 10 over party along with Malik, Razzak and Rana & Akhtar. But we would have to replace Rehman for him.

So we got options. Now lets see if we have the discipline and the temprament.

Good Luck Pakistan!

Afridi is my choice

without afridi you can not win the world cup, afridi is invalueble but all pakistan doesn't understand if afrid had given the cahnce to play at karachi he would have done the great innings it is not dream but what was the pitch the ball was coming on the bat easily and afridi would have 6 to 6 ......... but captain and coach and the media has created hype and afridi low in confidence who score 100 in each match, who Gilcrist, Jayasurya, Kallis,Sehwag,Lara,Ponting , you you are the coach, captain , and bore critic, who brought afridi low in confidence, but he will win over this, pakistan show down would be the same of 2003, if afridi is not given the chance to open, what a sameless, open with farhat(sulggish)with hafeez(new comer) one down younis(the test player)then yousuf(ok)inzi(hero of 2003 loss of worldcup, he has won 1992 but had lost1999& 2003)then malik (zero in variable condition) akmal he make run 1 out of 10and then razzaq (like afridi but can not win mathc on single handedly my valuble suggestion if pak has to win the world cup, frist say to afridi you will play each match open with it rest he would win 3 out of 10 singlehandedly rest 4 can win akhter and other so pak will win 7 out of 10 and would be a world cup champ

you are right kamran abbasi.if all go well in the next couple of months then pakistan should be able to challange south africa and australia in the world cup.i personally think that afridi should be included in the squad but i m also thinking about shabir ahmad, who will be available for selection after 19 of this month and we all know that he is a very good bowler for the ristrictive purpose so he should also be included in the squad. and in my opinion sami does not deserve a spot becaz now we have much better bowlers than him who are waiting to be the part of national team. so hope for the best.

well finally a direct talk - I appreciate your openness in this regard- I have posted my comments with similar thoughts before - and I agree to most of your suggestions except for Shoaib Malik and Afridi. We might be a little too late to get rid of Malik so close to the world cup but I believe you have one of the two positions in the 10 of the team - or three if you are exceptionally good - 11th is the wicket-keeper - the two positions are well defined - either you are a batsman or a bowler - or an exceptionally good all-rounder e.g. Razzaq, Kallis, Flintoff (well he a captain too). There is no team around where a player is inducted in one role and then made to do a second role on a permanent basis (permanent is the keyword). If Malik and Afridi are the last two players left for a choice, I will still pick Afridi. However, here is my choice of 16:

Imran Farhat, Hafeez (openers), trio of Younis, Yousuf and Inzi, bowlers of Shoaib, Asif, Gul - then choice of Rana, Kaneria, Rehman (depending on the wicket) - this leaves us with Kamran Akmal - these are 12 players - final two should be Razzaq and one of Butt or Kamal. This forms the squad of 14 players. We might swap Shabbir and Kaneria. Butt should be tried at another position.

It's time we start using specialist players for our team. The only reason a team tries all-rounders are when you have a weaker or vulnerable batting side. We are good on batting and bowling. So let's act like a mature team. However, we must try Asim Kamal et al for batting and keep Kaneria. He is too good a leg-spinner to let go. We have already let a great off-spinner go by choosing Malik (I mean he is no way close to being Saqlain).

My bet now is on Australia and Pakistan as finalists in the world cup. but we should be ready to make team selection appropriate based on the conditions.

here comes the world cup people ...

I have a little disappointed that Butt hasn't had the look in he deserves eapecially with Farhat playin as badly as he has (even when he does score big!). But I pretty much agree with your sqaud. Providin akmal opens, we will prob have the strongest bowling line up, if he comes down and hameed opens we will have a very long batting line.
I agree on your afridi point of view. Afridi isn't a form player, thats why he should be in the squad at least. and on flat WI pitches, he could fire up. I really hope he is used. I'm long past the notion of getting frustrated with him, its the player he is so put him in the team and he's likely to make at least one match winning contribution. You can't ask for more

My team for World Cup would be:Inzamam ul Haq,Mohammad Yousef,Younis Khan,Mohammad Hafeez,Salman Butt,Shahid Afridi,Shoaib Malik,Kamran Akmal,Shoaib Akhter,Abdul Razzaq,Mohammad Asif,Mohammad Sami,Umar Gul,Rana Naveed. Afridi has to be in the team and Rehman or Kaneria would not fit into the team especially when Asif and Shoaib are there so Afridi should be selected because he can bat and bowl. Salman Butt is a better ODI opener than Yasir Hameed, Yasir should be played in tests only.Our final team should be Butt,Hafeez,Younis,Yousef,Inzy,Malik,Razzaq,Akmal,Akhter,Gul,Asif. Afridi can come in place of either Hafeez or Malik if either of those two fail.Our bowling attack will be Asif and Akhter with Gul and Razzaq and then Malik and Hafeez or Afridi.Inshallah we can win the WC with this team!

Everyone will have a different choice when choosing a team but pakistan if they play the same team that just won the last one day against west indies against south africa at home then i think they will come undone. There team selection on a flat track yes is fine but on a fast track with a bit of side movement they need to think twice. Personally i think if all players are available pakistan for the one day should play something like.
1. Mohammad Hafeez
2. Yasir Hameed
3. Younis Khan
4. Mohammad Yousuf
5. Inzamam ul haq
6. Shoaib Malik
7. Shahid Afridi
8. Kamran Akmal
9. Rana Naved ul hasan
10. Shoaib Akhtar
11. Mohammad Asif

To win the World Cup, the winning team has to be consistent over five to six games. I find it hard to imagine Pakistan could do that, especially if you start including players such as Afridi, Rana Naved and Sami. But Pakistan does have a chance, I agree. About the opening pair, Hafeez should be in as he can also bowl a tidy spell but there is no one else who has shown the ability to partner him outside Pakistan. I would take a chance with Faisal Iqbal opening the batting with Hafeez. At least he seems to have a modicum of technique outside the off stump which neither Hameed, Farhat or Butt have. Pakistan should try him out in the one dayers in South Africa. The bowlers should be Akhtar, Asif, Gul and Shabbir with Rehman as the spinner. I wouldn't consider Kaneria because he is too excitable which can unsettle a team under pressure and because he is a poor fielder.

I personally think other players like Faisal iqbal should be given priority over players like Afridi & others who were short of the expectations. This the oppourutnity for Faisal to prove to the selectors that he can out perform Afridi in batting since bowling department is overcrowded therefore Afridi missin out on the upcoming tour wont be a blow 2 Pak team. Over to yall

1. Selecting Afridi for the bouncy and moving pitch of SA would be something like diving into an empty swimming pool.

2. Both M. Hafeez and I. Farhat should continue openning.

3. It is a winning combination, as far as bowling is concerned. The selectors may be a shot for Asif only.

4. Nothing should be done which could upset the current unity and discipline of the team.

i agree with your squad kamran. but the problem is that afridi hasn't been playing with the team, and it would not be a wise choice to play him in seamer friendly wickets in South africa, but i would still like to see him in the squad cause we never know; it might very well b another 450 wicket in centurion. this is where we need afridi to launch the innings.

i would like to see afridi in the team in place of hameed in easy batting conditions since having hafeez/hameed/younis at the same time will not help the run rate.

You forgot Shabbir. I cannot see Sami over Shabbir. Afridi is a wild one, on a good day he can be amatch winner.

we need someone with pace apart from shoaib akhtar and i think sami should be taken,
we lost the home series to india because our atatck was too 1 dimensioanla nd all our bowlers were medium pacers,
sami added some spice to it at the end of the series,
i would also include afridi and faisal iqbal although im not sure if we will take 15 or 16 members

Your ideas are reasonable. I still think Pakistan doesn't have a composed opening pair yet and that will lead to their downfall. Just imagine if the openers can add atleast 50-60 runs every game, then this middle-order of world class players will take the score to a 250 easily. However, like mentioned before, we still do NOT have a reliable opening pair and that will be the biggest hurdle in West Indies.

Dear Kamran,

I enjoy your comments and am glad there's a specific blog on cricinfo discussing the Pakistan team. Well done.

As for the squad, for me it's quite clear. This should be the 15 for the Caribbean:

1. Hafeez
2. Kamran
3. Younis
4. Yousuf
5. Inzy
6. Malik
7. Afridi
8. Razzaq
9. Rana
10. Shoaib
11. Asif

12. Farhat
13. Hameed
14. Gul
15. Rehman

(If a seamer gets injured, the next man in should be Shabbir, who is performing well in domestic cricket. So he gets the no. '16' spot.)

Afridi must play. It's undeniable he's had a disappointing year with the bat, but because of this people have overlooked his bowling, which is vastly improved. He used to bowl at least one guaranteed 'four ball' per over. This is no longer the case. He should bat at no.7 and be given licence as a 'wild card'. You say he should be the wild card of the squad; in terms of batting, he should be the wild card of the team (20 off 12 balls would be perfectly acceptable). Razzaq would then come in at 8. We need to bat till 8. Rana is decent, but more of a good no.9 than a genuine no.8. In test cricket this isn't so relevant (hence I don't accept England's 'Giles over Monty' reasoning) but in ODIs a team needs flexibility and depth.

Rehman should be in the squad as an option, but his batting isn't good enough for no.8. Afridi's bowling, in my opinion, IS good enough to fill the primary spinner's slot (with Hafeez and Malik as support).

The four reserve positions should be split: two specialist batsmen (one opener, one middle order) and two bowlers (one pacer, one spinner). This will provide sufficient cover.

That's all. Thanks.
Yusuf.

my name is naveed.. a well wisher of pak 4m india
my squad of 14 would go like dis..
imran farhat, mohammad hafeez, yaseer hamid,(open)
younis khan, mohammad yousaf, inzamam (mid)
shoib malik, abdul razzak, afridi, (all rounder)
kamran akmal (wkt)
mohammad asif, shabbir ahmed, naveed ul hassan,
abdur rehman, umar gul.
no ned of shoib akhtar and sami i jus hate their pace..

iam the greatest fan of pakistan from times , but regret to say that why pakistan board trying to form frequent changes in the team,positions etc ;i just dnt wann disscuss all.rather doing that concentrate on a squad that suits the different conditions to them regardless of weather,team or grounds . a player is the one who perform, not the one who form excuses either you are captain or great player before you are playing in present so you have to perform to keep your place safe dont see your books that will be forever your records or performances of past is really respectable ;but every game/series is a new task for you ;you have to do home work concentrate on your mistakes which you did before with that think about tactice to get out of it and put the pressure on oposition; after lot of confusion i think changes in team shouls be either razzak/afridi,sami/shoaib,asif/shabbir,rana/rehman,hafeez/hameed;kamran should be there but inzi you have to do somthing u did b4 but u have to safe ur place last bt not least i think sorry if iam crossing my limits malik/younus
ur target is ntini,nel and dippeaner/gibbs hope i did well but if iam wrong plz anyone explain why and which players shouls be there then slmkm

Hi
I m a great fan of cricket and especially of my Paki team, but I feel there r some weaknesses in my home team. Basically Paki team is attacking in nature, but they haven't been using their attcking attitude as they should. If I choose a team then in my opinion it would be a squad in which Imran Nazir and Shahid Afridi would open for team and in the middle order Yousaf and Inzamam would join the party and in the end Shoaib Malik and Abdur Razzaq would enjoy their feast. In the bowling department Paki team is also attacking like Shoaib Akhter and Muhammad Asif r a danger fo any batsmen of the world as our batsmen r fo the bowlers of the world. In this squad fielding also improves. So I think this should b the main squad fo the world cup feast.

I agree that most of the squad picks itself. However, I see three problem selections in Sami, Rehman, and Afridi... in order of high to low severity. First up, Sami...the bowler who couldn't get Botham's mother out. It drives me nuts to see that he is back in contention. I will be pulling my hair out if he makes the team when Pak has Shoaib, Asif, Gul, Rana, and Shabbir (hopefully) fit for selection. Even if Shabbir could not make the cut, overlooking Yasir Arafat (who has much superior 1st class and List-A bowling averages) to give yet another nod to the chronically erratic Sami would be nothing short of atrocious. Second, Rehman...I'm not sure if two good international showings are good enough to be granted a guaranteed world cup selection. Though he did show talent and promise. But heck, so did Sami in the very beginning. Is it beginner's luck? We certainly don't want to find out in the midst of the WC that Rehman's promise is as fragile as Sami's. So, let's wait until the end of SAf tour to make any speculations about Rehman's selection. Third, Afridi... I had said in my previous post on his subject that we need to get away from the culture of "stardom," and performance MUST be the sole criteria for selection. He was given another chance in this ODI series but he yet again blew it in the wind. Past glory can only carry you so far. And for him, even that is not much to boast about... an ODI average of 22 after 234 ODIs is paltry to say the least. Yes, he has won Pak a few games here and there with his "gulli-danda" style hitting. But in the long run, the law of averages has caught up on him...and his record correctly tells us that he in fact IS a below-par batsman, who gets lucky once in a while. Yes, it is spectacular when he does. But relying on luck is hardly a winning strategy. If a suicidal hitter must be selected, I say we opt for Imran Farhat instead. He gets it right more often than Afridi.

lemme tell u 1 thing . AFRIDI IS a senior player now .. he will definatly be in 14 worldcup squad, though he hasnt performed and others shud get chance.. AGREED, but ppl will see afridi playing in world cup, and i doubt sami playing or being selected even, cuz shoaib and asif have a fix spot in 11 . my personal 14 squad wud be

imran farhat
yasir hameed
muhammed hafeez
inzi
younis
yousaf
kamran akmal
razzaq
afirdi
shoaib malik
shoaib akhter
asif
Adul rehman OR UMER GUL
rana naveed

id vote for afridi too, theres something special about him, perhaps he needs a couple slaps round the head, but by definition what is a match winner...simply a player who cwill win matches for you, what i like about him is his bowling n fielding are usually decent or good, and if his batting fires What A BONUS!! lol, keep posting articles....rab rakha

those who have some knowledge of the game called cricket and bit of brain can easily tell you tht shahid's "fluke" time has gone..though i know for a fact tht neither him ,nor our nation is ready for that as we have never drunk the kind of water which can make our brains realise the bitter realities as clearly as the good 1s ...i think we all desperately need a sip outta damien martin's "half empty" glass;)

well, to go by your selections, i would differ with you on Mohammad Sami. Personally, i believe the pacer hasnt done enough. enough to cast shadows of faith over people that he can be anything close to a force we would need for supporting Shoaib and Asif n being the 3rd seamer in any of those crunch matches. So, better to have Kaneria in place of him, since the wickets would be Asian-type, or maybe even have a back-up wicket-keeper, with Akmal suffering from a continual injury.
For Afridi issue, sure be him! Give him the last shot of the many shots, and it wouldnt be much of a surprise if he sets the stage alight finally!

yet another two brillient performances by YASIR HAMEED with marvelous 71 and fantastic 41 holding average of 39.--, still not back up with some words from coach and captain and even the selectors.

I would replace Sami with Shabbir Ahmad and Afridi as the 14th member of the squad. Rest is fine. The playing 11 could possibly be
Mohammad Hafeez
Yasir Hameed
Younis Khan
Mohammad Yousuf
Inzamam-ul-Haq
Kamran Akmal
Abdul Razzaq
Shoaib Akhtar
Umar Gul
Rana Naved
Mohammad Asif
In SA, we can replace one bowler with Abdul Rehman in ODIs.

Here's your team courtesy of your English selector for the tour of (R)SA:

1. Hameed
2. Hafeez
3. Khan
4. Yousuf
5. ulhaq
6. Afridi
7. Akmal
8. ulhasan
9. Ahktar
10. Gul
11. Sami
12. Rehman
13. Kaneria
14. Malik

I could possibly be convinced to leave Malik or Razzaq behind in favor of specialist batsman.

But knowing your selectors I fully expect to find Farhat, Iftikhar & co in the squad.

well i think that 10 out of 11 team members who played at karachi should be selected.The 11th player sami should be dropped as he has been given many many many chances to prove his worth specially in test matches.the remaining 5 players should be asif,shoiab (both obvious), imran farhat, afridi and as a 15th member a fifth fast bowler shabbir,who is bowling really well at domestic and bcz of his can be effective at bouncy tracks or add another batsman fiasal iqbal or asim kamal(technically most sound player after inzi and yousaf). for the test matches just say good bye to afridi and call kaneria.this will be perfect recipe for the pakistanis.3 openers yasir,hafeez and farhat(he should be as a backup bcz of his technique),3 outstanding middle order batsman, 3 allrounders razzaq,shoiab malik and afridi,a keeper-batsman and 5 geniune fast bowlers.only thing which inzi and woolmer should understand that pick one of the two malik and hafeez because both are of same calliber no differnce and no variety.

I think the real boost for our team will be when they win the upcoming series in south africa . But this series has now shown to us that we have depth in all departments and can have a squad for worldcup which could well be a winning squad! Best of luck!

In my opinion Afridi must be there. I am not sure about Rehman, to me he has a suspect action and sooner or later he will be reported.

Openers: Hafeez, Hameed
Middle Order: Inzi, Yousaf, Younis
Wk: Akmal
Allrounders: Razzaq, Afridi, Shoaib Malik
Bowlers: S.Akthar, Shabbir Ahmed, Umer Gul, Rana, Asif, Rehman

If anyone should be dropped, it should be Rehman in place of another batsman, NOT Imran Farhat!

There you go again, Kamran. Spoiled an otherwise good blog by slipping in your case for Afridi. As for Akhtar and Asif, I can't imagine how they can play with steroids still in their system. You wish you could give them a (big fat) enema and get rid of the problem once and for all, but that can't happen, can it? And if it were left up to WADA for random checks duing the world cup guess who they're going to pick "randomly"?

Anyways, here's my team for South Africa:

1- Hafeez
2- Hameed
3- Younus
4- Yousuf
5- Inzamam
6- Malik / Asim Kamal
7- Akmal
8- Rana
9- Gul
10- Shabbir / Sami
11- Rehman / Kaneria / Afridi

Afridi fits in only as the third choice no. 11, but for ODIs he can play a floating position without any guarantees for a fixed spot. Malik should play purely as a batsman. If I were the chief selector I'd give this combination an extended run without disclosing it to individual players.

Oh, and by the way, what has Bazid Khan done to win a central contract? This guy doesn't have the fattest of a chance of making it to the squad. Is he just getting a stipend for being Majid's son?

I think Afridi should be in the squad as the wild card and lets pray he hits form early in the tournament. His bowling and fielding are useful and his batting is literally hit or miss. I've never been a fan of Imran Farhat because of his flashing outside the off. I still think Taufeeq Umar should never have been dropped in the 1st place. (something like 1000 test runs in 10 tests). Depending on what happens in South Africa I think Shabbir should definately be in contention with Sami.

afridi needs to be sidelined more so that he can learn an important lesson. you cant kick that guy out of one series and expect him to regain his form.
i think kaneria is a waste in ODI's.
the next person in contention is faisal iqbal. he has potential but i would choose asim kamal before him. kamal has not been given enough chances to prove his worth. i believe he is currently the best batsman in the country after inzamam, yousuf and younis.
so kamal gets my vote to bolster the batting in the caribbean, which might be even more logical since i am 90% sure that the openers will keep failing. hafeez, farhat and akmal really don't know how to play outside of the subcontinent.

I Agree with U 2 that Afridi should be given the final spot. My world cup squad is
1-Yashir Hameed
2-Kamran Akmal
3-Yunus Khan
4-Mohd Yousuf
5-Inzmam ul Haq
6-Shoaib Malik
7- Abdul Razzaq
8-Abdur Rehman
9-Rana Naveed
10-Shoaib Akhtar
11- Mohd Asif

12-Shahid Afridi
13-Omar Gul
14-Mohd Hafeez
15- Faisal Iqbal

Mr. Kamran u have picked a good combination but i would like share few points, 1stly we must know that how many allrounders we are looking for? as i believe instead of picking 6 regular bowlers another regular batsman should be selected. Sami doesnt deserve the selection. Afridi must be part of the squad and, even he dosnt convince me by his recent performance but his talent no doubt is wonderfull. Shabir should be given chance in south african tour.

I Agree with U, Afridi should be given the final spot. My world cup squad is
1-Yashir Hameed
2-Kamran Akmal
3-Yunus Khan
4-Mohd Yousuf
5-Inzmam ul Haq
6-Shoaib Malik
7- Abdul Razzaq
8-Abdur Rehman
9-Rana Naveed
10-Shoaib Akhtar
11- Mohd Asif

12-Shahid Afridi
13-Omar Gul
14-Mohd Hafeez
15- Faisal Iqbal

hey guys this is the first time in years I have seen pakistan actully rest their team. Yes mostly it was due to injury but it was good to see. Now here is my take I dont like sami and I think he should be dropped I would pick Farhat over Hameed. Hameed looks more like a test player at times. He is good dont get me wrong but I just dont see us dropping farhat. I also dont like sami so I think he should be dropped. Now the afridi factor. I think he is a bum who has been used wrongly time and again. In my opnion he should never open he should always come down in 6-7 positions and to increase the run rate. As for malik come on the guy as 5 centuries and 19 half centuries and you are putting him down at 6 and 7 please he needs to go at no3 he has proved that. I would not want afridi to play but as nabeel said he is a force and on his days a tsunami. So he should be given one or two chances in SA and depending on how he plays there he should be judged.
Bowling:
Gul
Asif
Rana
Shoaib-Abdur Rehman(again see how he does in SA. I know I am going to get heat on this but how many fast bowlers do we need)
Batsmen:
Kamran Akmal
Hafeez
Farhat
Younis
Yousaf
Inzi
Malik
Razzaq

I listed the ones that should start not in the order they should bat...

Well i think ur missing somone.......Shabbir ahmed!!!!
i think he has been out from the scene since long..but he surely deserves one place ahead of sami..

the final slot is of course afridi

Pakistan team seems settled and nice. They have a very solid middle order which selects itself and Hafeez has settled nicely into the opening slot. The last spot, I think, should go to Kaneria. An attacking spinner could do wonders in the middle overs.

i think we must pick faisal iqbal as the boy has the potential & right technique to succeed the likes of inzamam & m yousuf. i have a bad feeling that both these players will retire after the world cup for various reasons that will leave our middle order very inexperience & very vunrelable. we must invest in our youth now & faisal definately has all the credentials. all he needs is the confidence & experience to play along our big guns. i think the pakistan think tank also have a lot of faith in him but they must act now or face the consequences!

i think we should be positive and should play attacking cricket,my team for ODI
1-S.BUTT
2-K-AKMAL
3-Y
KHAN
4-M-YOUSAF
5-I-HAQ
6-A-KAMAL
7-S.MALIK
8-S.AKHTAR
9-U-GULL
10-M-ASIF
11-D-KENERIA
IN THIS TEAM WE VE QUILTY 6 BATS MAN +ONE WICKET KEEPER AND ONE ALL ROUNDER
WE VE 3 BEST WORLD WICKET TAKING FAST BOWLERS + WORLD BEST LEG SPINNER,IF WE CANT MAKE 300 RUNS THEN WITH THIS BOWELING WE CAN WIN MATCHES WITH OUR BOWELING,ANY THOUGHTS?

No doubt that the squad wud b of the abv mentioned players.
But i'll go wid Danish rather then Faisal Iqbal...coz we have quite a more presentable and reliable Batting Order right now and it wud b better if we go wid the spinner coz as per my knowledge the carribbean wickets have something for the spinners.Lets hope for the best.May GOD bestow HIS Blessings on us.

Well Mr. Kamran,
Of course the bowling is shaping up pretty nice but what matter is the performance on that day. What Pakistan Cricket team needs is reliable performers in the playing XI.No doubt Afridi brings certain energy and excitement in the game, but that usually lasts for five to six over at best. If your already playing players which have a possibility of failing to deliver then that is inviting trouble.
Abdur Rehman has been most impressive, we should keep him in the south Africa tour to see how he performs on fast track, having already proven his metal on slow batting tracks at home.
Gul is being ignored considering he is seamer and that is already provided by the likes of Asif, I disagree because we can play even five bowlers as seamers as each bowler brings something different to the table. The next series is crucial and I expect that the playing South Africa XI should be the World Cup XI for Pakistan.
Best of Luck to Pakistan Cricket Team in days to come.

Drop Sami, bring Shabbir. Imran Farhat comes in the squad because he's a left hander. There needs to be somebody who bats left handed at the top of the order to pose the opposition bowlers some sort of problem in making adjustments to their line. If bob and inzi aren't satisfied with him, then butt should be given another chance. The inclusion of a left hander is imperative otherwise your batting becomes a bit one dimensional.

I would, humbly, dissent with you Kamran on the point of Shoaib Malik's selection. I hav my most sincerest doubts about the man. Ever since he has been called for an illegal action while delivering the DOOSRA, he has lost it in his batting. Enlighten me of what he has done of note in his last 8 ODI's {the ones in England and Pakistan}. I see nothing, or am I not seeing the entire picture? I just think he is in the team because of a bias and nothing more. I am sure there are better batsman available in Pakistan than Malik, and it is a reality that now he only plays as a batsman for Pakistan ... but least assured, there are much superior players then Malik. But before reaching out to those players, there comes to my mind the name of one Shahid Afridi, and I would not hesitate one wee bit, just like you would not, and pick him up because he is Shahid Afridi - feared by the cream of the cricket world. And if picked, he will be a star in the World Cup. And as regards the last place, it should go to the forgotten Salman Butt whose ability is unparalleled. I am sure not many of the current lot have scored centuries against India in India and in Pakistan.

I think pakistan can with 4 fast bowlers -- Shoib Akhter, Muhammad Asif, Umer gul, Rana Naveed,(Sami, Shabbir and Rao standby for akhter and asif if they not in), 2 spinner-- Abdul Rehman/afridi (Danish Kanaeria on stand by), 1 wicket keeper kamran Akmal, 3 allrounders Abdul Razzak,Shoib Malik, Muhammad Hafeez, 5 batsman -- Yasir Hameed, Younis khan, Muhammad Yousulf, Inzamam, Faisal Iqbal) I we have to select 14 we have to cut one spinner.

take care

This is how the world cup squad of pakistan should...be

1-Mohd Hafeez
2-Imran Farhat
3-Inzamam-ul-Haq
4-Younis Khan
5-Mohd Yousuf
6-Shahid Afridi
7-Abdul Razzaq
8-Kamran Akmal
9-Shoaib Malik
10-Mohd Asif
11-Shoaib Akhtar
12-Naved-ul-Hasan
13-Umar Gul
14-Yasir Hameed

I think this final spot is only for Salman Butt or Abdur Rehman.Both are talanted.And they have every reason to be in final XI.And PCB have to must think about this type of natural talent....

I am in total agreement with you Mr Abbasi, i think the team is perfect and afridi should get the final place as he is very important to our ODI structure. The pressure he puts on the bowler just by being there is immense and for no doubt what so ever on his day hes a match winner on his own. what we Pakistan do need to do is stick with Mohammed Hafeez, hes mature and is progressing very well in that opening slot, it should be Hafeez and Akmal opening, Younis at 3, Yousaf at 4, Inzamam at 5, Malik at 6, Afridi at 7, Rehman at 8 (i think he can be a very good all rounder), Naved at 9, Akhter at 10 and Asif at 11 . We know our strength is our bowling so we need to go in with 3 fast bowlers and a spinner remaining 10 overs should behared between Afridi, Malik and Hafeez. Razzaq has no place in my team for World Cup although hes awesome in ODIs for Pakistan. If we win the ODI series in South Africa then we are 95% certain of winning the World Cup. Hameed, Gul, Faisal and Shabbir are the remaining squad. Although Hameed could come in for Malik as a specialist batsman. Glory to Pakistan.

Navid Ahmed

Cambridgeshire

I agree with your selection. H