What to do? Well some players pick themselves. The middle order of Inzy, Yousuf, and Younis is set in stone. Kamran Akmal has to be persevered with, it's too late to change now--and the strategy of him opening could be a spectacular triumph in the Caribbean. Mohammad Asif, Shoaib Akhtar and Umar Gul are the first line of pace attack. Of the all rounders Shoaib Malik, Abdul Razzaq, and Shahid Afridi are the late-order attackers that Pakistan's strategy hinges on.

That leaves five places to discuss amid the consideration that West Indian pitches will smell like the sweet grass of home to Pakistan's players. On that basis, I'd back Imran Nazir and Mohammad Hafeez as two of three possible openers (along with Kamran Akmal). The pace attack will need back up, which means Sami, Rana, and Azhar fighting for two places. I'd go for Sami's extra pace and Azhar's all round ability. That leaves one place for a spinner and despite today's outing, Abdur Rehman showed enough in the home series against West Indies to win the spot.

There might be a case for others like Salman Butt, Yasir Hameed, Yasir Arafat, and Danish Kaneria but if they are real contenders they should have been out here getting ready.

If this squad of players is fit and Pakistan can gel, they have a chance. Nobody, though, expected this level of unpredictability so close to the World Cup. But when it comes to Pakistan cricket, the next tournament can be a very different story. It needs to be.

(And yes, squads and XIs are allowed on this thread).

Such a shocking display by Pakistan! One has to say that you can never trust on them as what you can expect on a given day.

Now Shoaib Akhtar is probably out of the world cup and that's sucks!!!

I almost fully agree with the squad mentioned except for the issue of Azhar Mahmood. He needs to start along with Razzaq for any Pakistan XI for these two reasons:
He has loads of experience and that includes world cup.
Pakistan seamers need as much back up as possible.
He can score quick runs in the late order

THE TEAM.
I. Nazir, S.Malik, Y.Khan, M.Yousuf, I.Huq*, S.Afridi, A.Razzaq, K.Akmal+, A.Mahmood, S.Akhtar, M.Asif.
--- Rehman, Naveed, Hafeez---

We can discuss squads and XI's all day, the fact of the matter is in ODI's anything can happen. You just need to look at the last few days of world cricket...Pakistan hammering SA..and today the opposite. Australia on the recieving end after 3 months of dishing it out. SL beating India. My point is any teams squad can beat anothers 'on the day'.

In all honesty Azhar could smash 15 of the last over and win the game..so could afridi, and razzaq...and Inzi..and...you get what i mean. Shoaib could get 4 wickets in 10 overs, as could asif, as could Rana.

The same goes for all the top teams in world cricket....Bring on the Windies March 13!!

I believe the chances of pakistan claiming the world cup are slim and none but slim just got injured.

I just hope that they can beat India in the world cup finals.

Unfortunately in 4 years we still do not know who the best opening pair are. Without a solid and ruthless opening attack we are doomed to failure.

i have replacement jamshed ahmed is a quality bowler like wasim akram and sarfraz ahmed wicketkeeper
one more bowler is name ali he performed well agianst india in under19 WC
so team
must need on top
imran
sahid
yousaf
sahoib malik
inzi
younis
sarfraz ahmed
abdul razak
momahhad asif
umer gul
jamsed ahmed
and one more may be a batsmen salman butt or azhar mahmodd
thats it no need any more replacement have to pick those guys and play in order described

Today's performance by Pakistan was nothing short of poor. They are approximately 29 days away from the World Cup here in the Caribbean, and playing like this shows that something needs to be done quickly if they want to lift the W.C..

I still don't get why Danish Kaneria isn't playing any of these matches against South Africa. I think he should be given a chance to prove himself worthy of have a place in the squad for the W.C..

-Peace!

Yeah ur right .. keeping the unpredictability factor of Pakistan in mind, we can always move on .. Here is my Pakistan XI and the squad for the world cup (First 11 represent the playing 11) ..

1. Imran Nazir
2. Kamran Akmal
3. Younis Khan
4. Muhammad Yousuf
5. Inzamam-ul-Haq (C)
6. Shoaib Malik
7. Shahid Afridi
8. Abdul Razzak
9. Shoaib Akhtar
10.Umar Gul
11. Muhammed Asif

12. Rana Naved / Muhammed Sami
13. Muhammed Hafeez
14. Azhar Mehmood
15. Danish Kaneria / Abdul Rehman

The selection dilemma which forced PCB to ask ICC delay their squad-names submission dates is which one to select between Kaneria and Abdul Rehman .. and which two to select between Rana, Azhar and Sami .. i think all three of them will make it in the end bcuz at least one out of Akhtar or Gul will be unavailable due to injuries ( i hope they both r available though) .. Pakistan can either do very well and bring home the Trophy or they may even not reach the Semis .. Only time will tell ...

A very good assessment of Pakistan's effort today but the real worries lie ahead in the world cup.If Shoaib Akhtar is not fit then ?
Who do we replace him with.Is Shabbir not a good alternative for his pace as we very well know he can bowl with strick line and lenght.Considering the number of alrounders we play i fear we might become a midiocre team because allrounder can not perform to the level of a specialist batsman or a bowler with the exception of few in the world.Looking at all other teams of world cup i can see hardly any team playing more then two allrounders where as we have some six in our squad.Danish kaneria can be a good choice for carrabian pitches which are slow n turning.He has proven himself a worth player n should not be excluded for the management mistake of sending him home prior of One Day series.
As far as i can see Pakistan have an outside chance of winning the Cup provided they stay injury free n keep the resolve n confidence high.
Thank You

As expected Inzi has already start whining about the injuries though what happend today was a cheap display of our batting lineup followed by complete submission of bowling. Our bowlers are injured due to laid back style as prevailed in our culture and society. We claim that we are running Cricket affair on corporate basis and they have provided central conract to our national heroes to keep themseleves fit but nobody is ready to understand his responsiblity and job description. We have to implement a system of rigrous physical excercises to achieve that international fitness level.
We have seen that Afridi has been reawarded by 4 matches ban as expected so we have to stick with Razzaq and Azhar.
We have to learn that our batting line up is the primary source of attack then some good bowling will play an important role in forthcoming matches in WC.
After the resurgence of England from rock bottom one can say that cricket by chance.

Well....Pakistan has been shell shocked after todays performance.But we should not lose faith in the players...They will fight back if they get the support.As far as World Cup is concerned Paksitan might be without Shoaib and according to Dr.Danish Zaheer Asif should miss it because he might test positive in doping.So this reminds me of the squad of 1992 which was as depleted as this squad is turning out to be.In oneday cricket you cannot predict so captaincy of Inzii will be crucial alongwith the performance of Yousaf and Younis if we have to progress someway ahead in World cup.

My team
Should not Replace
Sahid Afridi
Imran Nazir
Yousaf AT Number 3
Sahoib Must need at Four
Inzi
Younis
Sarfraz Ahmed Wicketkeeper
Abdul Razzak
Jamshed Ahmed New BOwler In The List
Asif
Umer Gul
And if Akther is ready to play keep it eyes and one more salman butt and mohhamed haffez and one more new bowler Ali
Thats are 15 squared
Kamran send to this Inzam If i am captaion Never make change in this order

Hasnt Shoaib's injury taken another twist. If thats taken care of, I completely agree with squad. Otherwise probably rana and azhar will both make it in the end. Although they dont qiite look the force they were in county circuit last year.

its these kind of performances that hurt the cricket lovers back in pakistan the most, one day they play like the best, the most gifted team in the world and the next day, well they play like wussies..
but then its amazing how the pakistan team bounces back after such performances maybe beacuse they are getting used to humiliating defeats.
in the last defeat it was our bowling performance that really let us down, the batting wasnt amazing aswell but the bowlers were really to be blamed.But then again most of them are not first choice and things might have been differnt had shoaib and umar gul been playing instead but today the so called "one of the best" batting order collapsed apart from inzamam who looked like playing to improve his career average, imran nazir batted wonderfully well in the second one day but has flopped since, was it a good idea to bring someone directly into the world cup after being kept out of the team for what 3 year?
the make shift opener is NOT working, but the management just doesnt get it, and bob keeps on filling the team with all rounders instead of genuine batsmen, these "match winners" fail to perfrom when the team is really under pressure, had they opened today with hafeez, probably it would have been a different story.
i think that the management should stop the experimentation, open with younas khan and hafeez or may be hafeez and yasir hameed who have been playing international cricket over the last year instead of imran who has been out of the team for so long and play 5 genuine bats man, with the news of shoaibs injury in his knee and after todays performance, i have started to doubt that this team will perform well in the world cup!

After seeing Pakistan's effort in the field today,I regard this team as the most unpredictable team of the cricketing history.They simply lack the zeal and courage which is required to win matches.How long we are to rely only on players like Mohammad Asif,Younis and Yousif?Muhammad Asif looked a little rusty today.I think he needs a break.But if Pakistan is to rest him,i bet South Africans can easily achieve 500 runs mark.
My world cup squad will be:
1.Salman Butt
2.Shoaib Malik
3.Inzamam-ul-Haq
4.Mohammad Yousuf
5.Younis Khan
6.Kamran Akmal
7.Abdul Razzaq
8.Shahid Afridi
9.Shoaib Akhtar
10.Umar Gul
11.Mohammad Asif
12.Shabbir Ahmed
13.Imran Nazir
14.Danish Kaneria
15.Mohammad Sami
I think Inzi should bat up the order and lead the team upfront.

I have been following the pakistan cricket for a long time..have witnessed their heroics and shambolics hundred of times... Howcome a team with som much talent and experience, one a day touches the skys, and falls flate the next???

I think the whole things starts from the root..and from it i mean the whole system of pakistan cricket..from the domestic structure to the PCB..everything seems to be so corrupt and manipulited..players are taken inn and out for stupid reasons..from the drug alligations to the ball tampering drama...it almost seems like if the system is run by a bunch of idiots...and one can witness their stupidity, the way the players perform on the field..

When the pakistan team comes out on the field, you never know what might happen..it almost seems like of a flock of sheep, are realised into the field, where one follow the other.. one see no team planning..no strategy..no method of how to deal with the situation..and above all which i believ is the most important and crucial reason of pakistan failur is the missing “ self belief” factor. The players and team in a sence, seem not to have any kind of believ in their ablilities, and the ones who show some of it..are resticted by the others..

If pakistan ever going to have a slight chance to come as near as winning the world cup, then they have to totally change the way they are playing right now...They should come up, with a more aggressive and bold way of playing, taking the game to the opposition, is the new way of playing cricket..

Learning from mistakes
Pakistan batsmen are once again badly exposed really disciplined bowling by south african bowlers. they bowled consistently on offside off stump and go the desired results.although the pitch was not the sole reason for our batting collapse but flawed technique of batsmen was also another factor in this collapse.This massive defeat has raised too many question marks on inzi and bob's world cup preparations. World cup is around the corner and opening position is insecure. serious thinking is required by team management to finalize the squad. i would back hafeez and imran nazir as possible contenders for opening slot,younis khan,muhammad yousuf, inzi, kamran akmal, abdur razzaq, shoib malik, shahid afridi, umar gul, muhammad asif, abdur rehman. Hafeez has shown good technique after his return into international cricket he just lacks to convert starts into a major contribution for the side. Yasir hameed has to be given preference over others but with this caution to control his driving instinct off side offstump.Shoaib Akhtar as well all know will be highly effective provided he is fit enough to play the whole tournament. its time to stick to one combination rather than unnecessary experiments which has really played a pivotal role in disturbing the balance of the squad. Inzi needs to change his attitude by becoming more proactive rather than defensive all the times.Good teams like australia always learn from their mistakes and play more competitive cricket in their encounters. Pakistan team seems reluctant in taking the defeat badly and then to improve afterwards. Planning, consistency,positive thinking is lacking from this squad and not supposed to rely always on individual brilliance on a given da

There are multiple reasons behind Pakistan's unpredictable and inconsistent performance. Poor captaincy and coaching, lack of team spirit and game plan, lack of enthusiasm, wrong batting order to name a few. What one fails to understand is that is Bob Woolmer a good coach only when the team is winning? One good game and everyone starts praising Woolmer. But when we look at the games that Pakistan is loosing, and the overall fielding and batting blemishes, one simple question comes to mind, what the hell is the contribution of our coach?
When it comes to Captaincy, I think if we rate the captains of top six teams, Inzamam will be the sixth. One month to world cup, and we are wondering if Pakistan can even reach the semis with Inzamam being the captain of this side. And let's not forget, a day left to finalize the team!

A Quitter Never Wins and a Winner Never Quits.

Where was the Professionalism, the Fighting Spirit, or even a little Rsistance today? Where was the Motivation, Team Spirit, and most of all the Leadership with Balls? Sorry, I forgot, I was talking about Pakistan Cricket Team....

It Hurts to see them go down this way. Giving 1% is not Good Enough...

We need to Stop Drinking Water from the Clouds. There are no Shortcuts to Fitness or any Walk of Life.

I will Turn Sarcasm Off with this Quote from Einstein on his Theory of Insanity which is quite Applicable to our Beloved Team: Insanity is Defined as, "Doing the Same thing over and over Again, Expecting Different Results."

Would agree largely with KA's squad but with Shoaib being ruled out for a month, potentially even longer, he is now a risk that may not be worth taking. So Rana would make the squad on that basis.

Omitting Kaneria was a foolish error, he appears to have progressed his bowling to the next level. With Afridi being banned against the Windies a genuine spin option is important, particularly when combined with Shoaib's expected absence. Rehman has not received enough exposure at international level, particularly away from home. Kaneria would be my man.

Agree to the most part of it.But i think that most players here pick them selves . I do agree that may be yasir hameed , kaneria and others too could have made it but since they havent been given chance till now cuz of reasons un known, so now we can not afford to experiment. So have to make the best use of what players we have in contention these days. I have a very big issue with the batting order. Move akmal down the order.
MY XI would be like this ( in batting order)
1. Imran Nazir
2. Shoaib Malik
3. Younis
4. Yusuf
5. Inzi
6. Afridi
7. Razzaq
8. Akmal
9. Shoaib Akhtar
10. Umar gul
11. Asif

Other 4 Players i ll take to WI will be Hafeez( Reserve opener and spin bowling allrounder ), Azhar Mehmood( fast bowling Allrounder), Naved - ul-hassan( has done poorly in SA but was our best bowler in 2005 and can do it again if in form), abdur Rehman( spin Bowler, i wish they had tried kaneria too in some matches before the WC

It was a very poor display by the Pakistani players today. But to be fair, South Africans really bowled well with the help of some poor shots by Pakistani batsmen as usual. In the end, bowlers did not have enough on the board to bowl at. A sorry display . . .

Now the interesting part . . . potential 15 for the World Cup! I am writing Shoaib off completely so the team should be:

1. Imran Nazir (Opener)
2. Shoaib Malik (Opener / Middle order)
3. Salman Butt (Opener)
4. Imran Farhat (Opener)
5. Younis Khan (One down)
6. Mohammad Yousuf (Middle order)
7. Inzamam-ul-Haq (Middle order)
8. Kamran Akmal (Lower middle order / opener)
9. Shahid Afridi (Lower middle order / allrounder)
10. Abdul Razzaq (Lower middle order / allrounder)
11. Azhar Mahmood (Lower middle order / allrounder)
12. Mohammad Sami (Bowler)
13. Mohammad Asif (Bowler)
14. Umar Gul (Bowler)
15. Abdur Rahman or Rana Naved (Bowler)

And one more thing is that no matter what the squad is . The seniors will have to take the pressure and lead from the front. Inzi stayed down in the order in 2003 and protected himself as he has done all thru his career. Why can't they stand up like pontings , laras and sachins of the world and face the best bowlers upfront and come up the order. Its just their mental block. in 1992 Javed and Imran took the pressure and batted at 3 and 4. In 1996 it was Desilva and Ranatunga( seniors in the team ) , in 1999 it was waugh , warne who led from the front. 2003 ponting , and if pakis want to win this time then the senior pros need to come up and face the music. If they cant do it , they should not blame the poor openers who are not even given consistent chances. You dont play imran nazir for 5 years and expect him to regain a place in the team playing 5 ODIs in the difficult conditions of SA against the second best team in the world. Where the hell is the planning .Why havent we found 2 or even 1 opener for the team in the last 4 years. Woolmer and Inzi have you got answers to that

Pakistan squad to lift the cup?

Even getting into last 4 would be too much expectation from this team. I would love to see this team being thrashed out in the first round. They simply don’t deserve to win and if they don’t deserve they must not win.

Squad starts from the leader. We have a leader who is sick minded and always use negative approach. I am a firm believe captain of the team must come from an educated and cultured background.

Look at Imran and Kardar; why they were outstanding captains? Because they believed in attacking strategy and had strong educated family background.

No disrespect to Inzi as a batsman, but coming from mediocre family background and hardly having any education, he can never be an average leader let alone a good one. He is an accomplished batsman yet he comes at no 5 or 6 whereas Imran was primarily an all-rounder but during 1992 world cup he batted number 3… This is the difference between class and ordinary.

To cut the whole story short, if we have a captain like Inzamam who does not know how to lead and command then whatever is Pakistan’s final squad, they are bound to take an early flight back home.

Two weeks ago, Wasim Akram went on record saying, Pakistan was the only side who could stop the Aussies. At that moment, that appeared quite true, given how dangerous Pakistan can be (Durban, being proof). But as of today, it appears, those two are the ones playing the most lethargic cricket amongst the serious contenders. ;)

I'm glad you think Sami should play. In a squad I would put
1)Inzamam ul Haq
2)Mohammad Yousuf
3)Younis Khan
4)Abdul Razzaq
5)Shoaib Malik
6)Shahid Afridi
7)Mohammad Sami
8)Kamran Akmal, for your reasons
9)Rana Naveed ul Hasan
10)Mohammad Asif
11)Abdul Rehman, Shoaib Akhtar can't play
12)Imran Nazir
13)Mohammad Hafeez
14)Yasir Hameed
15)Salman Butt

The starting team would be
1)Imran Nazir
2)Mohammad Hafeez for his spin
3)Younis Khan
4)Inzamam ul Haq
5)Mohammad Yousuf
6)Kamran Akmal
7)Shoaib Malik
8)Abdul Razzaq
9)Mohammad Sami
10)Abdul Rehman
11)Mohammad Asif

I hope Sami will play and Razzaq and Malik get enough overs to bowl since that is their main stay.

Pakistan team is struggling there is no doubt. The win in the second one day was a one off performance, things have come back to norm after it with two poor performances with the bat. I still think that Pakistan will play much better in the world cup since the wickets there suit us more than SA or Australia.Let us hope players like Gul and Akhtar get fit and Rana finds some form. I would stick with the same combination it seems like too late to make changes now.

Disgraceful and spineless performance from pakistan. This teams unpredictability is one that reminds me of the British Weather. My squad for the world cup would be :
Inzy
YK
Yousuf
Akmal
Asif
Malik
Afridi
Razzaq (needs to be motivated, should not be in starting lineup)
Gul
Akhtar (fingers crossed)
The remaining five places should go to hafeez as he is a well balanced player, bound to do well, Imran Nazir has to be picked even though I would prefer to see Butt or Yasir, Rana is a must inclusion as he bowls well in West Indies like conditions and is a fighter. I would also pick Azhar and pick Sami or Kaneria- probably Sami if he is fit. On their day, this squad could beat any team in the world and liftthe cup, but with such unpredictability, I think beating Ireland is perhaps the only thing that can be guaranteed- or can it?
Arham Karim

Indeed an upsetting day, but lets see the glass half full. It has been a roller coaster ride on this tour, losing the first Test, winning back the second, losing the third Test, 20:20? Whatever! --I wouldn't be surprised if they introduce 5:5 on the international level to make extra bucks. ODIs now, lost the first comprehensively and made them lose comprehensively, third I still say however balanced had a tilt towards Pakistan given the conditions, and now today, comprehensively beaten again. It has been so confusing to read or formulate a sound judgement of predictions, its like a pendulum swaying for and against Pakistan. Question arises that why has it been so this way? And it certainly has swayed for and against South Africa, not because of South Africans themselves, but because of Pakistan's own outings. Hehe, I'm sure they'd be confused as well.

To ponder on the question about, why its been swaying? South Africa unlike Pakistan have not had to face injuries, inclusion exclusion can have a major impact on performance, yet keeping this in mind one has to commend that Pakistan has kept the pendulum swaying! Now, everyone at the PCB and the team has a daunting task of announcing the squad, break a few hearts close to Valentine's. Rana should be dropped without a question or doubt in mind! And I agree with the probables listed in the article, but one overshadowing concern is that Akhtar now may have to have a surgery on the knee, this makes the task even more complicated.

Looking at Australia today, my hopes with Pakistan are anything but dashed, while Pakistan's ride has been bumpy, Aussies had a down(under)fall, with people already starting to question there.

All this makes as good suspense!

No excuses should be entertained at this moment but it is too late to react to what is happening. All the plannings for the World Cup have been falling apart. Now is the time for damage control and PCB should take the blame for the mindboggling itenries. The travelling and back to back matches are taking its toll on the players. It is hard to belive that Yasir Hameed who seemed to be in serene touch did not get a chance in the one dayers and Kamran Akmal seems to be given a license to fail.
The Pakistan Squad should be
1.Inzimam 2.Younis 3.Yousef 4.S.Malik 5.Hafeez 6.Razzak 7.Asif 8.Akmal 9.Mohd.Sami 10.S.Afridi 11.Umar Gul 12.Azhar Mehmood 13.Imran Nazir 14.Rao Iftikhar

Although it was a shambolic performance by our team. There are few things which need to be kept in mind before jumping to conclusion

1. The conditions in WI are entirely different.( completely different ball game )
2. Pakistan has always been performing spectecular one day and below par the other day ( Itz not as if this fluctuating perfomance never happened before)

My team for WC 2007 is:

Imran Nazir
Kamran Akmal
Shoaib Malik
Younis Khan
Mohammad Yousaf
Inzamam-ul-haq
Shoaib Malik
Shahid Afridi
Abdur Rehman
Umar Gul
Mohammad Asif

( Based on assumption that Shoaib Akhter and Shabeer Ahmed would be un-fit - -- as usual )

I just hope and pray Rana Naveed does'nt go to WI
Abdur Razzaq is a good allrounder and should be selected in 15 man squad

kamran-san, you worry too much. so they lost by 10 wickets today. so what? this is the hypnotic world of pakistan cricket, tomorrow is another day, full of infinite possibilities. pakistani cricketers merely reflect pakistani people: capable of sublime brilliance one day, utterly hopeless the next. if you look at the average pakistani student's exam papers, it will be full of A's and D's. c'est la vie. no point beating yourself up about it.

okay, so here's my team: wasim bari, you better be reading this matey:

1) safe hands akmal
2) immy nazir/mo hafeez
3) y2k
4) moyo
5) inzy (if he doesn't demote himself to no9)
6) malik
7) shahid khan boom boom (bust) lala mad dog afridi
8) razzler the dazzler
9) shoaib freak show akhtar
10) gully boy
11) a genius by the name of asif

as far as the other squad players go, they can take inzy's mum and dad for all i care.

Nice artcile Kamran, an apt prognosis given Pakistan's current fluctuation between the sublime and the senseless. It was an issue I was pondering earlier today, a world cup 15. I named the same sure 10 as you, with 5 places up for grabs. It seems now that Akhtar's World Cup chances may have flown out the window owing to his knees, and its probably best if Pakistani fans accept that as the reality whilst naming squads.

Luckily the Caribbean wickets are slow and flat, the kind our batsmen are accustomed too, so there glaring technical flaws may not be such an issue as they are in the current bilateral series. I feel the wickets and small grounds would favour a very attacking approach with Nazir and Akmal opening, going hell for leather. (2) The trio pick themselves and Malik offers that ideal floating player at 6. (6) Razzaq and Afridi could prosper in conditons where footwork isnt a prerequsite for success (8) and if Akhtar is absent, with Gul and Asif picking themselves, it leaves the one bowling option in the starting x1. Rana has lost it, so I'd opt for Sami.

A team of :

Nazir
Akmal +
YK
MY
Inzi
Malik
Razzaq
Afridi
Sami
Gul
Asif

looks nice on paper, esp in conditions likely to favour spin.

The greater concern in flat conditions is the bowling, and the reserves should reflect that. Rana, Rehman and perhaps another pacer, maybe Rao (maybe not...) or Shahid Nazir. I'd opt for Yasir Arafat who so often does well in English county cricket and has some pace and menace about him.

All in all it looks ok on paper, but the key is the lack of consistency and one feels the inability to stop/catch/attack the ball in the field.

For what its worth, I took a small punt on the Kiwis, and that's from a diehard Pakistan fan. I just think the Black Caps are running into good form, and are "due".

finally i agree with you and couldnt have said this better. while PCB does have a lot to answer for and we are quick to blame them, this is hardly a problem that can solve itself.

this is a first but my ideal line up is the same as yours. the only thing that can rain on this parade is the WADA appeal in the COA.
If Asif and Shoaib are indeed banned than i would rather go with Sami and Azhar(Allah and everyone else knows this guy deserves it).

my squad for the world cup would be
imaran nazir
mohammad hafeez
kamran akmal
salman butt
younis khan
mohammad yousaf
inzamam ul haq
shoaib malik
abdur razzak
shahid afridi
shoiab akhtar
rana naved
umar gul
mohammad asif
abdur rehman

and my ideal XI would be
imran
malik
younis
yousaf
inzamam
akmal
afridi
razzak
shoaib
gul
asif

I think following 12 men can lift the cup
1.Muhammad Hafeez
2.Yasir Hameed
3.Younis Khan
4.Muhammad Yousaf
5.Inzimam ul Haq
6.Shoaib Malik (WK)
7.Abdul Razzak
8.Shahid Afridi
9.Shoaib Akhter
10.Umer Gul
11.Muhammad Asif
12.Shabbir Ahmed

i would like to have kaneria in place of a.rehman because he gives an atticking option in the middle overs.

I agree we should stick with kamran Akmal-now is not the ideal time to try a new wicketkeeper. The WC is so big that any new keeper will be out of his depth. In any event Akmal is a class act, and will come good.

I also agree we should continue with Imran Nazir, hafeez or possibly Salman Butt. After the big three middle order players, malik is the only player who has consistantly performed with the bat.

The biggest worry is our bowling-In light of recent injury concerns to all the strike bowlers together with Rana's dip in form is a huge problem with no immediate solutions. Its also possible that Asif may still have some nanderolone in his body and Akhtar's knee injury is very serious . If this is the case Rana will get an opportunity, and so should kaneria, Rehman and Arafat.

Razzak and Azhar pick themselves.

This may be the WC that we have rely on two specialist spinners in the starting eleven.

Kamran, you can try and come up with any dream combination that you like but the fact of the matter remains that this team lacks the committment that is required to win a major event like the World Cup. Even the public huddling displays have begun to look rather spiritless.

There is no real purpose in Pakistan's game at the moment. Inzamam, of all the people, looks to be tired and ready to retire. He's begun to look too old to be featuring in a one-day team. Let's face it, his body language is saying please let me go. Pakistan team's real problem is leadership and the unfounded belief that a patriarchal figure is needed to provide that leadership. Inzamam has given more than he possessed to Pakistan cricket. Let us recognize that there is no more juice left in that man. He needs an honorable discharge, but I dread the prospects of that stand to be tainted by this upcoming World Cup venture.

Winning a match should never ever be as important to any team in any sport as putting up a spirited fight till the very end of the game. Playing for pride is much more important than playing to win. Unfortunately, with the culture that exists in the country the team only plays for pride against India. With the rest, our players play to keep their places in the team.

You can come up with any number of winning strategies, any number of winning combinations, but with these bunch of nothing characters you'd be totally dumb to expect a World Cup win.

yup, nobody in my opinion can argue with u at the moment because this is the best possible team in the given circumstances.
Attack the other team before they do, its a very good option but ..... the thing is that attacking the opposition's bowling line is very difficult for pakistan specially openers.Most ppl dont understand two things,1: hitting fours and sixes with the new ball cant be possible without a sound batting technique, which imran nazir and hafeez dont possess.
2: Attack is not always hitting fours and sixes its a matter of keeping the score board ticking and frustrate the oposition in their planning.
In my opinion Yunous khan should come up the order and play as an opener because he is always their in the middle anyways in the first 5 overs.
Pakistan is too much pridictable at the moment and any team can prepare a strategy for controlling them even i think they dont have to prepare the strategy as pakistan is playing with the same combination here and there for the last 7-8 years now.
Most of the teams which have surprised in the past world cups r those which brought something new to the game, as newzealand attacked with a spinner in 1992, sirilanka attacked with their openers in 1996, Australia unleashed symonds in the middle order in 2003.
Different kind of strategy is required with the same group of players, other wise the team is good on the paper but not good enough to win the world cup.

It is indeed one of the worst performance by pakistan .. sure we cannot get 350 everyday but we can show a fight or two atleast .. we would not be getting dead pitches everytime so our batsman must know how to adopt to the conditons afterall they are all professionals .. anyway my team squad for the world cup would be

Imran Nazir
Kamran Akmal
Younis Khan
Mohammad Yousuf
Inzamam Ul Haq
Shoaib Malik
Shahid Afridi
Abdul Razzaq
Shoaib Akhtar (If fit and if not then Rao Ifthikar Should be in the squad because i dont think Azhar can make it to the squad of 15 as surprisingly he was not in the original 30 man squad)
Umar Gul
Mohammed Asif
Mohammed Hafeez
Yasir Hameed (As Afridi would be serving ban so i would open with him for the time being and let kamran play down the order)
Mohammed Sami (Rana out of form so i have no choice but to pick sami)
Abdul Rehman (would add variety to the squad)

My Heartiest Wishes and Prayers are for my Pakistan Inshallah they will do well in Carribean no matter what happens at South Africa

Cheers,

theres 1 month left the world cup and pakistan need to sit down and think hard because the way we performed today is not something to talk about the only person to show abit of resistance was yet again inzi when are our young guns gonna rise to the challenge (akmal) and look like a true bunch of world cup winners because 1 match they do the next its back to basics. and do we have a bowling line up whats the situation with shoib and gul is shoib really injured or as he upset someone. theres so many issues to talk about but so little time so many questions 1 way to answer Pakistan lift the world cup 2007. come on PAKISTAN

I can not beleive the way Pakistan batted today. It is a shame! It is far to imagine it is the same team who beat SA in 2nd ODI and also batted pretty good in 'rain affected' 3rd ODI. I dont understand why they were feeling so much pressure when the series was 1-1. Everyone was expecting they will play relax and positive cricket but it appears that they were playing under some sort of 'fear' and 'pressure'. They never seemed trying to do anything good.

Pakistan is suddenly looking tired out there. I would attribute this to too much cricket since last year. The lack of an attack partner to Asif appears to have taken a toll on all the players. We haven't been able to stop the flow of runs, let alone duct it. All said and done, here is my playing 11 for the World Cup.

1. Mohammad Hafeez
2. Shoaib Malik
3. Younis Khan
4. Mohammad Yousuf
5. Inzamam Ul Haq
6. Shahid Afridi
7. Abdul Razzaq
8. Kamran Akmal
9. Umar Gul
10. Shabbir Ahmed
11. Mohammad Asif

Reserved :

12. Abdul Rehman
13. Azhar Mehmood
14. Imran Nazir
15. Mohammad Sami

I would stick with 3 bowling specialist, 3 Batting specialist and 1 expert wicket keeper, rest should be best of the allrounders with Hafeez and Malik opening the batting. The backup would be 2 all rounders and 1 specialist bowling/batting each.

Yes, my list dont feature Shoaib Akhtar. The latest news is not good from his end and being a selector I have only 2 days to make the squad announcement. Going by Shoaib's history and legacy, I would prefer to pick long dependable options than Stop-Go. Players who can survive whold tournament and so far Shoaib doesn't qualify. This is probably a sad end to yet a brilliant talent but arrogant attitude.
Time to move on, lets focus on the WorldCup and back the team. Fingers Crossed.

I wont judge Pakistan performance in SA for WC in West Indies and many of you would agree that it wasnt the best stage prior to world cup as moral booster or practise. We should have been playing on pitches that match West Indian climate. I strongly think that any kind of our poor opening pairs will work fine in West Indies (Farhat, Salman, Taufeeq, Yassir, Hafeez, Imran, etc)

But my team would be
Openers: Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Imran Nazeer
Middle Order: Younas, Yousaf, Inzi
Allrounders: Shahid, Akmal, Azhar, Razzaq
Fast Bowlers: Asif, Gul, Rana
Wicket Keeper: Kamran
Spinner: Rehman.

Imran Nazeer, Razzaq, Rana and Rehman still dont make into my preferred Pakistan XI.

Still, do not under estimate Pakistan. And first game of WC against WI is so important that these points will go to next round with any team that wins and I believe, most of the teams winning big matches in first round will be semi-finalists.

Have good day,

P.S. Somebody also tell inzi that these points go to next stage :)

Today performance was shambolic. The only saving grace was the fact that conditions will vary greatly in the Windies.

A lot of these batsman show a lack of mental toughness when it comes to pressure situations. Pakistan have been guilty of this for a numerous amount of years.

If you can't hit the boundaries then try to get the singles. Its not rocket science. You need a bring some sort of respectability to the score. The middle order are especially guilty of this. You should be targeting average bolwers like hall and langevelt.

Pakistan are very eccentric and they maybe able to get away with in the super 8's. However lets just hope that the Pakistani's can be more proactive within their cricket because if they don;t have a contingency plan it will cost them when the pressure is on.

Anyway my squad would be
1. NAZIR
2. BUTT
3.KHAN
4.YOUSUF
5.INZIMAM
6.MALIK
7.RAZZAQ
8.AKMAL.
9.GUL.
10. ASIF
11.KANERIA
12.AFRIDI
13.MAHMOOD
14.HAFEEZ
15.AKHTER/RANA (AKHTER IF HE;'S FIT)

Today's performance was shocking..the pakistan team look short of confidence, morale and most worryingly, form. I hope i can be proved wrong but i just cannot see them carrying enough form and momentum into the world cup to stand any chance of winning. We need two of azhar, abdur, shoaib or afridi to 'fire' everygame (both batting and bowling) or a big total and quick wickets seem impossible. Why do we continue to play rana when the more consistent iftikhar anjum should be playing? The bowling looks so disturbingly average without shoaib and gul and what's more, without shoaib next month, we dont stand a chance. So much for shock and awe, i'm shocked alright but something tells me i'll be waiting a very long time for the awe!

Yes!!! you have got it spot on. I hope that the selectors do read your blog because following a performance like todays, you can expect weird things from the selectors.

My playing 11 (in Batting Order) would be:
1) Kamran Akmal (Bat/Wicket Keeper)
2) Imran Nazir (Bat)
3) Younis Khan (Bat)
4) Mohammad Yousuf(Bat)
5) Inzamam-ul-Haq (Bat)
6) Shoaib Malik (Bat/Bowl)
7) Abdul Razzaq (Bat/Bowl)
8) Shahid Afridi (Bat/Bowl)
9) Azhar Mahmood (Bat/Bowl)
10)Shoaib Akhtar (Bowl)
11)Mohammad Asif (Bowl)

This is the perfect 11 given that all are perfectly fit and not banned for any reasons.
It has total 6 bowlers (4 seamers, 1 leg spinner, 1 offspinner) and even Imran Nazir can bowl a bit if required.
Then the batting order is very deep aswell since Azhar is coming in at 9 and then Shoaib is certainly no mug with the bat either at 10.
The batting order should be flexible and Afridi should be in around the 40th over.

The other 4 in the squad should be Abdul Rehman, Umar Gul, Mohammad Hafeez and Rana Naved.
Even though neither Rana nor Sami deserve to be even in the squad but unfortunately we have no other options.
These 4 would mean we have 2 backup seamers, 1 specialist spinner and Mohammad Hafeez does provide backup for openers or one of the all-rounders.

BEST OF LUCK TEAM PAKISTAN!!!!!!!!!!!!

good comments but my playing 11 would be.. i would like shoaib malik n imran nazir 2 open the innings followed by younis than inzamam at number 4..mohd yousuf at number 5..number 6 Afridi..no 7 Razzaq 8 Kamran Akmal. n the remaining 3 bowlers...Umar Gul Shoaib Akhtar n Mohd Asif...if not Umar Gul dan an allrounder could b given a chance Mohd Hafeez or Azhar Mehmood..

I broadly agree with your squad. However I would like to see Shabbir Ahmed as i believe he can offer a semblance of control in the power plays and is a wicket taker with the new ball.
The unpredictability in Pakistan's play is worrying i truly believe that this is due to the Asian and in particular the Pakistani psyche.
They seem to be very un-professional in their mindset you cannot see Australia,South Africa or England consistently failing if they had the same players.
The only player who truly recognised and overcame this was Imran Khan.
Be more professional and rhen maybe they can lift that cup come April.

Pakistan's performance in todays game was atrocious. How long can they continue to play this way? South Africa played the way they normally play but Pakistan on the other hand literally gifted South Africa the win by giving their wickets away. I don't know what goes through these players heads but it seems as though they were affected by the absence of Shahid Afridi in a big way or they may have some other issues. However, they are international cricketers and should be able to put aside such issues and get on with things. The world cup is about to begin and from the current performances Pakistan might as well forfeit from the tournament as they lack the drive and intensity that others teams have shown in their games.

I think Pakistan will do well to reach the semis at the WC. But that too depends if they are consistent throughout the tournament. For me Mohammad Asif and Shahid Afridi are the players who need to click if Pakistan have any hopes of doing something reasonable in the tournament. Shoaib Akhtar can be a trump card, but due to lack of commitment can be a burden on the team. The team has to gel together and compliment each other well for making Pakistan a serious contender for the World Cup. The talent is there but there is a lack of application which is required to compete at this level. I wish Pakistan all the best and hope they learn from their mistakes before it's too late.

where is jamshed ahmed anwer ali and sarfraz ahmed need those young player in
the team

pakistans's best 11:
kamran,imran,younis,yousof,inzi,malik,afridi,razzaq,shoaib,gul,asif

Pakistan must get their mindset right to level the series.Switch to aggressive mode and performance will improve.There was nothing wrong with the pitch.This world cup is up for grabs,Australians have been badly dented today.Drop Shoaib and go for fitter players.He wants to go for fun at tax payers expense.My world cup winning X1 are Hafiz,Akmal,Younis,Yousuf,Inzi,Shoaib,Afridi,Razzak,Sami,Gul,and Asif. Other players to take Rana,Arafat,Rehman,Nazir. Standby (considering injuries and disciplinary actions)Yasir,Azhar,Rao.

Todays batting by Pakistan brought back nightmaes of the Miandad tenure as coach - where we would see Pakistani sides block all day and get bowled out for scores like 54,58,80,100. All the batters today played as if they were playing on a ton of bricks - it was riduculous how they all went into a shell. Bob Woolmer needs to cancel any recreation activities that these morons have set up - and make all the batters sweat it out in the nets. As for my WC 15 - Here it is:

Inzamam Ul Haq
Younis Khan
Mohammad Yousef
Mohammad Hafeez
Imran Nazir
Shoaib Malik
Shahid Afridi
Abdul Razzaq
Azhar Mahmood
Shoaib Akhtar
Umar Gul
Mohammad Asif
Mohammad Sami
Danish Kaneria
Kamran Akmal.

My reserves would be Rana Naveed,Rao Iftikhar,Abdul Rehman,Salman Butt and Zulqarnain Haider.

I think it's never too late to correct a mistake. Kamran Akmal has been a failure since the England tour. I think another keeper should have been given a run from the first ODI in South Africa. Persisting with Kamran on the basis of hope alone hasn't given any dividends & the sooner the mistake is corrected the better it would be. Sure, the new keeper might fail as well but based on Kamran's current form, both in front & behind the stumps, it surely can't be any worse.

judging by today's performance pakistan team has once again proven that the only thing predictible about them is their unpredictabality.it was realy a spineless performance from pakistani batsmen.well judging by the performance of rana naveed in the last couple of games it will be a big risk to play him in the world cup instead should give azhar mahmood another chance

With the World Cup squad to be announced in less than two days time, this was definitely a performance one least expected from Pakistan, even if the dumbest of viewer kept the ever-reknowned 'unpredictability' of our team. It seriously was a pathetic shocking performance, all round.
Talk of leaders, we had a leader who seemed to be all cramped with his bothering shoulder injury and fitness problems, even though he was still at the crease, but never looked like dominating the proceedings. I, myself, watched mere parts of the match itself, yet those pieces were enough to let me visualize what kind of performance it could have been since it was nothing out of ordinary for a Pakistan Cricket Team on an overseas tour, that too against one of the two biggest contenders of the World Cup.
Forget for a second, the near-retard Pakistani selection and management people, the folks present in the ground at Cape Town never looked like anything close to be the bunch who were willing to perform at the biggest tournament of their careers in one month time. Most of them looked like a tired flock of sheeps, mention anything else for your own choice. The Ranas, Razzaqs, Akmals continued their merry ways of disappointment performances.

As far as the Carribean adventure is concerned, Kamran went a yard-stick wrong about Hafeez and Sami, only on the basis of them being currently in South Africa. We, all know so well, how more'unpredicatble than the team' can Wasim Bari and co. can be.
Sami doesnt deserve to be in the squad, Rana should be selected due to his ability to reverse swing and his strike rate of picking up wickets, at which Sami struggles for sure.
Mohammad Hafeez's selection should be mind-boggling with already near-half a dozen all-rounders in the Pakistan Squad.
As goes my Kaneria and Yasir Hameed selection, though we know there are very few chances of these vital players being selected, since they werent picked for the SA one dayers, yet they are the best available choices for the respective spots, their performances are sheer proofs of it, but as it goes in Pakistan Cricket, the deserved has the wrong effect of the medicine.

My Pakistani Squad for the Carribean would be:

Inzamam-ul-Haq(Captain)
Kamran Akmal(Wicket Keeper)
Imran Nazir
Yasir Hameed
Younis Khan
Mohammad Yousuf
Shahid Afridi
Abdul Razzaq
Azhar Mehmood
Shoaib Malik
Shoaib Akhtar
Mohammad Asif
Umar Gul
Rana Naveed-ul-Hasan
Danish Kaneria

Surely, as always from the heart, my team for lifting the Cup, but the brain has South Africa, Australia and India get the spots above Pakistan.
I just wish Pakistan team the best of luck, they are, as they say, the most talented bunch, yet we can only pray that this multi-talented group gels in the most fitting manner, and atleast makes it to the knock-out stages.

how about younis khan justifies his place in the team finally and play as a keeper?

My Squad would be

1. Imran Nazir
2. Yasir Hameed
3. Younis Khan
4. Muhammad Yousaf
5. Inzamam-ul-Haq
6. Shoaib Malik
7. Shahid Afridi
8. Abdul Razaq
9. Kaman Akmal
10. Shoaib Akhtar
11. Muhammad Asif
12. Muhammad Hafeez ( off-spin option)
13. Umar Gul
14. Shabbir Ahmad

I discard Imran Faraht because he is some how unable to develop any battign sense. Rana is a fighter , but out of form same is case with Sami. I am really worried about him, sometimes luck does not favour him and othertimes he does not favoru luck.

The main problem of Pakistan right now is batting not bowling as when Gul, Shoab will return there will be no more expectations the Pak can make from bowlers. But the prob is in attitude in Pak batsman. Today they started slowly and thats what caused their downfall. If Imran Nazir didnt went to score that quickly in 2nd ODI i belive after that Akmal dismissal they will look for the new ball and score 4 runs per over and end on to finish 250 runs not 346 or sth. So Pak right now needs good attitude opning players. They can go for Shoab Malik at one down if they want Akmal to continue at opening as I wont want Malik to open.

Yes Pakistan's performance today was indeed quite pathetic in more than one way..it showed that we didnt learn anything from our last ODI which was washed out due to rain....Once again Kamran Akmal failed....and Imran Nazir didnt get going either...I also just read that Shoaib Akhtar might miss the world cup due to a knee surgery..which will be a huge blow to say the least..Not so sure about the latest update on Umar Gul although I'm assuming he should be ready to play. Although today's performance left much to be desired, I'm sure Pakistan will come out all guns blazing in the next games...I think its hard to say who will win this world cup because Australia has showed that they are indeed beatable...England and Sri Lanka are hitting form at the right time. Pakistan has some concerns which need to be sorted out. As I pointed out in my last thread here, shoaib malik needs to open the innings. He has done consitently well in any position, and if there is one man you can trust with opening its Malik. Kamran Akmal needs to bat down the order at number 6/7....

My Team 11 for the world cup would look something like this:

Imran Nazir
Shoaib Malik
Younis Khan
Mohammad Yousuf
Inzamam-ul-Haq
Shahid Afridi
Kamran Akmal
Abdur Razzaq
Azhar Mehmood
Shoaib Akhtar
Mohammad Asif

Reserves: Umar Gul; Rana Naveed; Mohammad Hafeez; Abdur Rehman;

If our players can keep their bats to themselves and not wave them at specators, or get into public spats with their coaching staff; and avoid getting injured; I think we have a pretty formidable squad. Although I read today that Shoaib might miss the world cup which is a blow. In that case, i would open with Umar Gul and Asif as our front-line bowlers. Pakistan also needs to lift their game in order tto win the World CUp. The series in south africa has been a long an aruous one, but they need to win the last game so as to get a good win before the world cup. Another factor that has been highlited is the use of having Mushtaq Ahmed as a bowling coach..OK..granted that he is good friends with Inzamam and a good influence on our dressing room. However, under Waqar Younis as bowling coach, the bowling improved quite a lot. Now, the likes of Rana Naveed are going for no less than 10 runs an over! I think in this one month, the PCB needs to hire a proper bowling coach..IMMEDIATELY...its time we wake up! less than 33 days for the world cup..but in Pakistani cricket thats a lot...and miracles can happen..

Shoaib Akhtar is injured and has been ruled out of world cup. Here is my 11:

1. Shoaib Malik (he is playing reasonably in South Africa, and Akmal is doing nothing at this position, and there is no reason why he should not do well in carribean)
2. Imran Nazir? (not sure, just had one good one day, but pitches in carribean may suit him more)
3. Younis Khan
4. Muhammad Yusuf
5. Inzi
6. Afridi (after his suspension is over, and his batting order should depend if Pakistan needs someone calm or someone to start hitting, he would suit for the later)
7.Razzaq
8. Kamran Akmal
9. Sami
10. Muhammad Asif
11. Umar Gul

This list has 4 fast (medium-fast) bowlers and 2 spinners. We can go with 3 fast and 3 spinner as well, by brining abdur-rehman instead of Sami.

I agree with your choice of the starting XI, for the world cup we must open with Imran Nazir & Kamran Akmal. However after the world cup we should settle with Salman Butt and Imran Nazir or Shoiab Malik as the long term opening partnership.

Embarrassing, appalling, shocking, demoralizing...a large variety of such words can be used effectively to describe the Pakistan team's performance today. Even by the standards of unpredictability that are synonymous with the men in green the last few months have been mind boggling. The batting seems to be the consistent problem and the fact that we are unable to field a consistent pace attack is most worrying.
The middle order as has rightly been said is set in stone. Younis, Yousaf and Inzi are the backbone of the side while Asif is perhaps the first name on the sheet nowadays. Razzaq, Afridi and Malik should be in the one day side even in the face of widespread opinion that we have too many all rounders. Akmal should still play and Nazir should be selected (even though he seems to be back to his usual ways - brilliant one day and incredibly poor for the next seven). Hafeez should be in the squad as a back up opener.
The remaining places for the pace bowlers should be filled by Gul (best pace bowler for the last 7 months of 2006), Shabbir (if fit) and Sami. Rana should be dropped in all honesty as his performances have been on a downward curve since the ODI series against India last year. I would personally love to see Azhar Mahmood in the side due to his all round abilities and the depth that he adds to the batting.
As far as the final place is concerned......draft Kaneria into the ODI squad as I am unwilling to understand how a player can be good enough to play test cricket but does not find a place as far as ODI's are concerned.
In light of further injuries....have Hameed and Rana as the back up players. Finally a plea....please do not select Shoaib Akstar. When consistency is mentioned ...a team cannot go into the most important tournament with a player who can undoubtedly be brilliant on his day but a major let down, distraction, and a catalyst that is very effective in destroying the morale and spirit of the team the next. A player who is not a guarantee to be fit enough for the entire series should not be considered regardless of star power, box office draw and millions worth in sponsorship attached. To win the world cup you need every individual to give his heart and soul. Quite frankly....it seems Shoaib has neither.

This is what happens when you play scared.

My squad will be: Afridi and Nazir at opening(Afridi in powerplays than at the end as there are plenty of hitters like Malik, Razzaq n Azhar Mahmood to do it), Malik -one down, Inzamam(before Yousuf as I want him to play without pressure rather than taking the resposibility which is not helping his batting n Pak team......look at Ricky Ponting),Yousuf,Younus,Razzaq,Akmal(as Zulqarnain is too late to try n Inzamam likes Akmal for World Cup thats why he didnt gave Zulqarnain any chance), Shoaib,Gul(or Mahmood not Rehman as we have two spinners-Afridi n Malik), and Asif.

I find it hard to argue with your selection, but I think there's a strong case for Danish Kaneria here. Abdur Rehman does not offer as much variation as Kaneria, and in any case we already have finger spinners like Malik, Hafeez and Afridi which means that what we REALLY need is a strike bowler not a run-choker like Rehman. The case for Kaneria further intensifies because there is a genuine lack of strike bowlers amongst our paceman. Shoaib Akhtar is all but out of the competition. Sami is uncertain, and Rana's form has deserted him spectacularly. That calls for a wicket-taking bowler and Kaneria provides a handsome option in that regard. Moreover, the selectors major opposition to Kaneria was based on his poor fielding and batting skills, but I'd say he was the most energetic of Pakistan's fielders in the Test series, and did show some mettle with the bat. Rehman, who supposadely posesses these qualities (though I am yet to see them) did not show much promise with the bat and his fielding is, well, ordinary. The message is loud and clear, Kaneria deserves a place in the side.

It is time to dump Rana Naved and Mohammed Sami for good. Since the current crop of medicore players cannot win the world cup in any case, its better off to play some new faces - atleast the opponents would not have worked them out yet. Insteda of Karman Akmal, Sarfaraz Ahmed, the u-19 skipper should be taken as the wicket-keeper. Similarly 2 new openers would any day score not les that what the current bunch of openers are getting.
Only the middle order - Yunus, Yousuf, Inzamam, Malik, Afridi, Razzack is established and need not be tinkered. If Umar Gul is unfit, then add Azhar Mahmood and Asif to get the playing XI.

I have followed very closely the Pakistani teams ups and downs in the recent time and for me the starting 11 and the 4 reserves should be as following:

Nazir/Hafeez
Akmal
Younas Khan
Mohammad Yousuf
Inzaman Ul-Haq
Shoaib Malik
Shahid Afridi
Abdul Razzaq
Umar Gül/Azhar Mahmoud
Shoaib Akhtar
Mohammad Asif

The reserves:
Mohammad Sami
Danish Kaneria

And I am very keen to see Danish Kaneria as our main spinner. I just don't know why the Pakistani selectors don't take him into account or at least give him one more chance to prove himself.

Rana Naveed i think has spoiled his chances after coming back from injury. Giving more than 9-11 runs per over in recent games is unheard of a main strike bowler as him.

Pakistan after my meaning consists of some talented player and they have undoubtly the best all-rounders combines in one team in the cricket world.

It is nice to see that Shahid Afridi gaining his bowling talent back at the right back.

If Pakistan is fully fit they are world beaters and can beat anyone, anyplace at anytime.

The main problem of the Pakistani team is their fielding. I still can't figure out why they don't have a fielding legend as Jonty Rhodes in the team. The PCB has the money to spend on one of the weakest side in Cricket world and even Waqar Younas should become the bowling coach again.

So I wish the Pakistani team the best of luck and one thing is for sure. My money is on Pakistan to win the world cup 2007, since West Indies is their second home ground when comparing the pitches world wide and last time Pakistan met West Indies they beat the heck out of the opposition.

It is important to remember that 10 matches have to be won to become World Champions and even if the Pakistani team have one bad game after two good games, they are on their way.

i feel that yasir hameed and imran nazir would be a very good opening option. Shoaib Akhtar if he is fit and available to play will probably be injured after the first or second game he plays even though his extra pace is very much needed he is a big gamble. Our fielding needs much improvement, looking at the way NewZealand, Australia and S.Africa throw themselves Pakistan needs to improve a great deal. Kamran Akmal should never have been on the S.African tour, he has just let every Pakistani down, with no real effort shown. Rana Naved should never have been given a Pakistan International level game. At this time seems like only three people genuinely put an effort for the Pakistan team; Younis, Yousaf and Asif, besides this trio there is limited or no effort being made to improve.

I agree with your squad, only thing is maybe Rana for Sami because Sami hasnt played the last 3 ODIS, so it seems selectors have confidence in Rana. Anyway thats the only place for grabs, the rest is set.

Well following is my choice for the WC. I strongly believe that the results in SAF series do not reflect the kind of game we play in West Indies.
Kamran Akmal
Imran Nazir
Younis Khan
Mohammad Yousaf
Inzamam-ul-haq
Shoaib Malik
Abdul Razaq
Shahid Afridi
Shoaib Akhtar
Umer Gul
Mohammad Asif
Hafeez
Rehman
Shabbir
Azhar Mahmood
Yasir Hameed

I'm only 17 years old but am a die-hard fan of the team and have closely followed their progress over the past 7 years or so and their inconsitency is nothing new (as im sure those of you about 30 years older than me will testify to. The basic problem is one of confidence. Only a year ago Kamran Akmal was touted as the next big thing in world cricket with consecutive ODI hundreds against England and he has had an alarming dip in form- in the tests he showed some form with the bat but none behind the stumps, since the ODI series has started he has found form with the gloves but lost any he may have had with the bat. The batting (as has been the case for as long as i can remember) relies too heavily on Yousuf, Younis and Inzimam and other players need to start performing consistently to relieve the pressure on them-i.e. Nazir,Akmal,Razzaq,. But what i have been most embarassed about in this series has been the bowling, Asif apart. For a country reknowned for it's fast bowling resources why are the bowlers a)failing to take wickets and b) leaking runs. Asif has carried the attack but today even he seemed as if he had had enough, with his head appearing to drop on several occasions. He is a rare talent and needs to be nurtured carefully-not overworked as he has been.
I hope we can still win the world cup but after performances like today I wouldn't be surprised if we made another early exit like 2003-in fact i will expect it so as not to be disappointed.

I had the same thoughts this morning as I woke up to find out much to my amazement that match was already over (canadian time - so match starts around 6.30am my time). And then I found out on the same pitch where pakistan exhibited such dismal batting, South Africa didn't lose a wicket - that would have helped Pakistani team have a justification of a difficult pitch. I believe there are news reaching the team that cause loss of enthusiasm e.g. Shoaib's injury can be a long one (as usual!), silence on Umar Gul's injury (scary silence about that too!), Afridi's ban (which will be over before world cup but obviously was one of the important factors in this 1-day series), Rana's lack of form (been a while since he bowled well!) and Kamran's (Akmal, that is) lack of good keeping. I believe it all adds up to mental weakness that Pakistani team is facing. Just before the Champion's trophy, Pakistan was the favourite for World Cup - with the best squad undoubtedly - and in mere three months, they are not sure about the 15 in a team. Despite all this, I fail to understand one thing: all the injuries and lack of form etc is in the bowler's squad - but are the batsmen even playing? Fine, the bowlers are going through a rough patch but if it wasn't for Yousuf and a sprint by Afridi and Imran Nazir (in one match), what else have the experience yielded. Younis is concentrating so much on messing with SA bowlers that he forgot which side is he playing. Inzi is back with this confused look. Openers: well crossing 25 without loss is an amazing start. Here is what I suggest: leave the bowling arena as it progresses, but batsmen got to prove the stability they need for the World Cup. West Indian pitches will be mostly batting oriented and having 300 - 350 runs targets or maintaing ~6 RPO average will be the key. It will be a batsmen world cup and intelligent (not necessarily fast) bowling (good news for Razzaq, Azhar, Asif and Gul). We are entering the World Cup like every single time we have before: Uncertain - may collapse or may win the Cup - who knows - depends on the mood of the day.

Yes, i think Kamran Akmal should be in World Cup squad. is just that he's going through a bad form. hopefully he will find his rythm soon time.

Salam all
I really hope Pakistan show some fighting spirit, this performance has been awful and needs to be loked at over and over again. They need to work upon this in the nets,it seems as if they play, think and then relax. This is the wrong attitude for a squad who want to relive the days of Imran Khan. Mohammed Yusuf with the terrible third man shot, its the same manner if i recall correctly as the 99 world cup. He is a good player but if he wishes to be great then he needs to correct 8 year old mistakes. Inzamam showed strength but if Imran Khan hand picked him for the 1992 side then he must show still show why he was chosen, personally I find the team in a position similar to 1999. We may find some strength but all these players best watch their back as this side will be restartedfrom scratch. This excludes Asif,Gul,Yusuf,Younis and maybe Akmal.
Another point needed to be made clear is the wicketkeeping and fielding. i personally find Akmal should bat down the order if form behind the stumps keeps high or play Yasir Hameed as a batsmen who could put the gloves on. Younis Khan should open and Malik should come number 3, i was waiting for this to happen so that Malik could realise he will play the new Inzamam role after the world cup, he needs to be played like this.This should also releive pressure on the middle order.
We have too many all rounders in the squad, i find Yasir Arafat should of been given a chance on this tour. Razzaq is a good player but he needs good competition with some who plays a very intruiging and similar role. We also need to utilise Kaneria and the fact he is a specialist spinner, not a fill in the overs bowler. Use him please. When will Pakistan learn ? They have all the talent but they to work together the Chairman,Selctors,Captain,Players and most importantly the coach. I pay great respect to the man Bob Woolmer and hope he can be rewarded after all the effort he has shown and lack of respect he has received.
I will finaly end with my WC team.

Nazir
Y Khan
Malik
Yousuf
Inzamam
Afridi
Akmal
Arafat
Gul
Asif
Kaneria

my team for the world cup:
1-hafeez
2-imran nazir
3- yonis
4- yousaf
5- inzy
6- shoaib malik
7- razzak
8- afridi
9- kamran
10-asif()if cleared from doping scandal)or shabbir(if fit)or sami
11-umer gul
12-shoaib akhtar (if fit)or rao
13-abdul rehman
14- azhar mahmood
15-rana naveed

Haha, Abdur Rehman. The guy is a bloke. When he first got two wickets everyone was like this is the Next Warney baby. Does anyone know how many wickets he has in this series. O. So we can all sit at home and dream about Rehman becoming Murali, or we can think about Danish and how much he deserves to play in the WC. I know sulking won't help but he realy did deserve a chance.

Well i guess i need to put two elevens for the WC

Idealistic

1. Nazir
2. Kamran
3. Younis
4. Yousuf
5. Inzi
6. Afridi
7. Malik
8. Sami
9. Gul
10. Akhtar
11. Asif

(Sami has been decent latley)

Realistic

1. Hafeez
2. Nazir
3. Younis
4. Yousuf
5. Malik (Inzi has suffered a problem . His back i think)
6. Razzaq
7. Not really sure *coughs*
8. Sami
9. Rana
10. Rao
11. Shaid Nazir (who knows asif has been overworked he might come up with an njury)

Today's performance was beyond belief. How an entire team that is supposed to bat until no. 9 can be bundled out for 107 is a statement to the lack of responsibility in their batting. Aside from Inzy or Yousuf no one steps up when they are in trouble with the bat.
For the World Cup if they are to even have a chance they will need some batsmen to take responsibility whether they are chasing or setting a total. The batsmen above are the most likely choices, including Nazir with Akmal , but the order needs to be ironed out. Like to see Shoiab Malik higher up the order even 3 as he can control the pace of the innings (Younis at 6) and late order Afridi and Razzaq. Their bowling can manage with the abilities of Asif and Gul with some decent support, I would take Rana over Sami for his skill at the death and some batting ability (once he gets into some form).
ODI's are won or lost by the batting and Pakistan's chances rest on whether their batting explodes or implodes.

i agree, the performence today was just pathetic i mean they made the ball look like it was unplayble. where as smith n villers showed the intent from the first ball "nothing to fear but fear itself".... i wud go wid kamran akmal opening although at this time akmal hasnt made his case for the spot but i am sure he will come up with the goods, the biggest worry is our pace attack just the recent news of shoaib akhter might be needing a operation must hav jolted PCB's plans i hope he is there we need his bags of tricks to defend targets as low as as 150, da next big concern is asif's workload he has been bowling non stop put aside the fact dat he missed out 20 over game which wudnt hav matterd if he had bowled 4 overs ... but woolmer needs to see his workload, getting him injured wud b a BIG BIG BLOW, the next seamer i am looking forward to play is gul i think he is surely in line for ticket to WC n his injury was jus a precaution, i don't believe they will pick shabbir in da 15 man squad not untill asif shoaib n gul are all absent from it, shabbir has no match practice n has lost much of his range as we saw in da pro20 game, i wud take sami for his pace n rather then taking abdur rehman we should have been trying danish in da ODI's he needed some exposure to blossom into da ODI kit if gets the hang of ODI he might be able to take wickets n put a stop on runs if he knows his areas, i mean neglecting a legspinner shud not be da way, luk at shane warne he played ODI's n was highly succesful, i know both of dem are in a seprate class bt still danish isnt dat bad ... i hope ICC gives PCB som time to make there list of 15 men. if not it will be intresting to see the list, can turn out to b shocker if we know PCB at all

My line up in the following order:

Nazir
Hafeez
Inzi
Moyo
MyK
Afridi
Razzaq
Azhar
Shoiab
Gul
Asif

my ideal starting lineup would be
Imran Nazir
Kamran Akmal
Younis Khan
Mohammad Yousaf
Inzimam-ul-Haqq
Shoaib Malik
Abdul Razzaq
Shahid Afrid
Shoaib Akhtar
Umer Gul
Mohammad Asif

Imran Nazir,Mohammad Hafeez, Kamran Akmal, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousaf, Inzamam Ul Haq, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Mohammad Asif, Danish Kaneria, Azhar Mahmoud,Rifat Ullah Mehmand

Well remember ME. The guy who has asked everyone to keep watching Pakistan after 2nd Odi win, with a ANTACID...yes nothing wrong with anyone in establishment...this team errr PLAYERS need..what?
Yes CONSISTENCY!! Mennn...keep watching them and you can blame your ULCERS on these guys!

i dont even wanna talk abt todays game and i have no intentions of even watching the last ODI between Pak and SA. Lets just pick the best possible 15. My playing 11 would be:
1) Imran Nazir/ Mohd. Hafeez (one of them)
2) younis Khan ( he is already 3rd opener so why not promote him)
3) Yousuf
4) inzi
5) Malik
6) afridi ( after he comes back after 4 odi ban)
7) razzaq
8) kamran akmal
9) shoaib
10) gul
11) asif
thats 12 players. now i would prefer to have Naveed, Azhar and Yasir hameed as hameed can also be a reliable (not so much) middle order batsmen just incase something unexpected goes wrong with one of our 3 middle order giants.

1.Imran Nazir
2.Kamran Akmal
3.Shoaib Malik
4.Mohammad Yousaf
5.Inzamam
6.Faisal Iqbal
7.Shahid Afridi
8.Abdul Razzaq
9.Shoaib Akhtar
10.Umar Gul
11.Mohammad Asif

---Subs
12.Younus Khan
13.Salman Butt
14.Mohammad Sami
15.Azhar Mahmood
16.Shabbir Ahmad

This is the squad I would play if I could.
I purposefully left younus out of the first 11 because he has shown time and again that he doesn’t have what it takes to be a one day match winner and that’s exactly what all others are.
Nevertheless, given the short time, he will be in squad in order to replace an injured player like yousuf or Inzi.

What worries me the most is the utter lack of cricket sense exhibited by inzi. He is a great batsman but a sorry excuse for a leader, especially in the modern ODI game, so is Younus while we are at it.
Personally I would choose Afridi as Captain, but given teh circumstances, let’s live on with Inzi and hope.

Frankly, cant think of any XI to make up the team after a horrible display. Thou