Cricinfo - Blogs - Pak Spin - Road to Jamaica 1: The openers

Nonetheless, it's true enough that none of the openers have succeeded. This opening problem is not new for Pakistan and Imran knows it well. Middle-order batsmen have been made into openers going right back to the 1975 and 1979 World Cups when Majid Khan opened the innings but did well against the mighty West Indian bowling attack. By 1983, Mohsin and Mudassar had formed a stable opening partnership but one that failed to deliver its promise. In all three World Cups, Pakistan had been knocked out by West Indies.

The mainstay in the next two tournaments was Ramiz Raja, who despite a decent World Cup record had the habit of firing only sporadically. Indeed his pairing with Aamer Sohail in 1992 was often a hair-raising enterprise. Sohail had matured to some degree by the time he partnered Saeed Anwar in 1996--although that isn't saying much. But on Asian wickets, the combination of Aamer and Saeed was dynamite and perhaps the best that Pakistan has ever enjoyed at a World Cup.

When the 1999 tournament came around, Saeed had established himself as a World class opener, the best Pakistan has had since Hanif Mohammad. This meant that his unknown partner Wajahatullah Wasti had an easier ride than most Pakistani openers have ever had. I'll never forget the sight of Imran Khan teaching Wasti how to play a forward defensive on the team balcony after he'd got out in one of Pakistan's group matches. It was as if he was teaching a six-year old.

Come 2003, Pakistan were a confused outfit. Saeed was bowing out but underutilised prior to the tournament, and Shahid Afrid was in one minute and out the next. Pakistan's chop-and-change strategy was in full swing. Saeed Anwar, Shahid Afridi, Taufeeq Umar, and Saleem Elahi were all given a go.

Four years later, who could have predicted that Pakistan would still be confused about their first choice openers but they clearly are. Yet, Imran Nazir has a rare talent if he can be persuaded to harness it sensibly. Mohammad Hafeez is a hitter who can graft--or is he a grafter who can hit? In Kamran Akmal and Shahid Afridi Pakistan have further explosive capabilities. Desperation, though, can provide a creative solution, and the suggestion that Younis Khan might open is in the grand tradition of Pakistani middle-order batsmen turned openers and it is one that might succeed.

Most importantly, Pakistan need to decide their strategy and stick to it. The openers will have five games, including warm ups, to find a certain chemistry. I reckon Hafeez and Nazir is the pairing to go with in this squad. A World Cup is a stage to make a name for yourself and grow as a cricketer, and both of them should be hungry. They will be helped by West Indian wickets being unlike South African, Australian, or English. Might Pakistan turn a weakness into a strength? If they can, Pakistan's challenge will become a genuine one.

Pakistani team is facing this problem since Probably 4 or 5 years.They couldn't establish their opening pair yet.I think that Imran Nazir is good as an opener,because he is a good attacking player but Hafeez doesn't look quite good.Yasir Hameed is much better player and opener than Hafeez and even better than Imran Nazir,but as we know Pakistani selectors always spoil the careers of good players.Anyway,hopes are still alive and Pakistan is still able to win this tournamen.Inshallah Pakistan will win this tournament even with these opening and bowling problems.
Regards
Muhammad Yousaf,Lahore,Pakistan.

Its too late to discuss now, Inshallah if imran nazir clicks, then the rest of the line up will be unstoppable

Pakistan’s lack of having a decent opening pair today is down to partially a poor domestic structure and poor selection decisions over the years.

If we start with the latter, Pakistan in Saeed Anwar had a brilliant opener who was a reliable and proven performer all over the world and not just in sub-continental conditions. After the disaster of the 2003 World Cup in South Africa in typical PCB style the management had a massive clear out of players which culminated in various retirements.

Saeed Anwar unfortunately was one of those who was ignored and ignored and ignored further at which point he decided to retire. The utter brainless mis-handling of such a situation led to Pakistan losing a fabulous, proven player who still had much to offer but more importantly Pakistan lost a player who occupied a slot in which they had no half-decent replacement so much so that they are still struggling today with this!

I am very much in favour of giving youngsters a chance if they can prove themselves…if they are good enough then they are old enough, at the same time this approach needs to be applied at the other end. If a player is good enough then he is young enough. If the player has still something to offer as Saeed Anwar quite clearly did, then they should not be discarded so brainlessly as he was.

Saeed Anwar’s retainment and presence not only would have helped groom a potential replacement but also would have helped with the transitional period that every team has to go through when players retire. Pakistan instead has always adopted with all out and all in policy which never works. The Australians are the best example of the phasing in and out policy, none of their teams have mass exoduses instead they are planned and phased to benefit the team.

The other reason Pakistan struggle with a decent opening batsman and batsman in general is due to the poor domestic infrastructure and system. Our batsman are too used to playing on lifeless pitches against un-competitive teams. Their techniques and mental approach is as a result flawed which leads to failures at the top level in international cricket…which in turn leads to the selectors chopping and changing and find themselves with unsettled openers.

This problem unfortunately will continue with Pakistani cricket unless the above situations are addressed properly.

Yes man i was thinking of inzi if his team is not doing gd job at start of innings why doesnt he open the batting with imran nazir like sa graeme smith always gives gd start inzamam bohath pagal hai yaar

I think Nazir and hafeez are good choice keep afridi and kamran up dont bring them down. The should be death sloggers. up in the order they will just do in a single match and for the rest of the tournment the middle order will be covering up their blunders so please regular openers

it should have been hameed opening wid nazir, but lets hope who ever opens does a good job coz we know that they are good players they jus need to prove it to themselved that they are, i also think shahid afridi should open wid imran nazir in the past they have been involved very good partnerships, if pak openers can get 50 runs in the first 10 overs and dont lose a wicket i cant see pak losing the game from there

Well!! Nothing can b done now but to support Imran and Hafeez. They both can surely play but they need some confidence. Pakistan have always been struggling 2 find openers but i agree with Kamran Sahab tht these two might click on caribbean tracks. I dont feel tht Younis Khan can open though he hasnt been properly tested as an opener.
So guyz Keep ur fingers crossed!!

Kamran,

The biggest problem with the opening department is the mis-management of every single PCB administration since 2000. When Sohail was kicked out of the team, Pakistan NEVER felt the pinch because the greatest Pakistan opener of all time, Saeed Anwar, more than covered for the lack of support at the other end. When Saeed was around, Miandad and Co would sometimes send Wasti into open with him, then Elahi, Afridi, Taufiq Umar, Imran Nazir, etc - almost everyone was given plenty of chances but at that point, we really did not care who partnered Saeed, because Saeed himself was an icon who carried the other opener with him.

However, when Sohail became chief selector, he went about settling old scores and dropped Saeed Anwar after the World cup for NO reason. Saeed was easily the most succesful Pakistan bastsman in the 2003 world cup, despite being out of the game for so long, yet instead of being rewarded for his guts and determination, Sohail proved he was settling old jealousies and dropped Saeed. Saeed, promptly retired, and went about his life quietly, because he was always a decent fellow. However, Sohail robbed Pakistan of the services of Saeed Anwar, because not only could Saeed have played for another 2-3 years easily, but he could also have helped us build another opener with him. It's no secret that Imran Farhat and Salman Butt openly state that they look upto Saeed and have learned a lot just watching him play. But imagine how much more they could have learned batting with him, thanks to Sohail and Tauqir Zia that never happened.

Since then guys like Wasti,Taufiq,Hafeez,Farhat,Hameed,Butt,Nazir etc have all been tried and failed to show the consistency or that they can learn from their mistakes. Imran Khan keeps talking about his fellow pathan Yasir Hameed - however Yasir has been tried numerous times and he always throws his wicket away, if you look at how he got out in South Africa, he was out getting caught in the slips chasing balls that were on 4th or 5th off-stump. And this guy has been played for 6 years now. Why should we play Yasir Hameed when he like Imran Farhat and Mohd Hafeez, has shown he has not learned anything from his mistakes?

I think Salman Butt is the only opener in this crop who will not only be a quality world class opener but also a future pakistan captain. It was a mistake not taking him to the WC. Hafeez is just a bits and pieces player, he throws his wicket away, and barely gets past 20-25 runs. At least Imran Nazir has more natural talent than Hafeez, so if Nazir gets going - his talent will help him get big scores. Hafeez doesent have the talent or the temperament. What Pakistan really need to do for the WC is let Nazir open with Shoaib Malik. Nazir can play the pinch hitter role, and Shoaib Malik can try batting right through. Malik already has a few 100s to his name opening or batting at number 3, so he is quite capable of getting big ones, and he's 10 times more talented and capable than Hafeez. AFTER the WC however, Pakistan MUST bring back Salman Butt and make him open in tests and ODIS, and as far as his partner goes - I think it`s time we find a new player - someone from the A team or the under 19 team. We cannot keep trying Taufiq,Hameed,Hafeez and Farhat because all of them have been given ample chances and have proved they are simply not good enough. Also, we need to get Saeed Anwar to help us find some good openers. He's a champion opener, and we use his services asap.

i agree with kamran that it should be nazir and hafeez to open.the most important thing is to get a good solid openening stand of 50 or 60 in 10 overs or so.this will lead to the middle order expressing themselves freely and undoubtedly help with late hitting being easier for afridi and co. if we can get get decent scores on the board.it wil be that bit easier to defend,be it without akhtar and asif.this is the only way i can see pakistan making a good fist of a undoubtedly hard campaign.may god help them in understanding what it means to play for your country.fight all the way to the bitter end.pakistan zindabd!

Pakistan should try Younis Khan as opener,because he always comes inside first 5 or 7 overs.So,there is not much difference for hi, being opener or one-down.At no.3 comes Shoaib Malik followed by Yousuf,Inzi,Kamran,Razzaq,Afrdi.
That remains 3 positions.One should go to Kaneria and other two to fast bowlers.That is the ideal eleven of Pakistan for me.The other opener along with Younis can be either Hafeez or Imran Nazir depending on form.

Before the South Africa series, I was tempted to suggest Shoaib Malik to open. However, through the SA tour, it seems as though when everyone else was crumbling, he was the only one to actually stick around. I would have him batting at 6.

I think Pakistan should try Hafeez and Nazir for the warm up games, and if they don't work, then I'd really be in favour of sending Mohammed Yousuf as opener, and not Younis Khan. He practically comes out to open as it is anyway, and I think his defensive ability gives him the edge over Khan, who in a couple of games in SA was ultra-defensive without scoring. Yousuf on the other hand uses the powerplays more sensibly in my opinion.

The argument that the pitches in the West Indies will be like the ones on the Sub-continent is a pointless one we need technically correct batters at the top of the order, I am amazed that Bob Woolmer has not been able to nurture 2 guys (YASIR HAMEED and SALMAN BUTT should have been the obvious choices for ODIs and the TESTs)to do this important job. Now that they are not there i hope Kamran Akaml and Imran Nazir are given the opportunity to give us some good starts. Shoaib Malik should be sent 1 down if they lose a wicket in the first few overs, as he has proved that he can hold one end up when the going gets tough.

Even if the recommended pair proves to be a 'strength', thanking to the flat west indian pitches, they may have to meet the same fate after some time which Imran Nazir has already met, when he was praised by Waseem Akram in India in 1999 because of his performance in two tournaments in the sub-continent involving only sub-continental teams.

Not a bad article although I believe what Imran Khan says is sort of right. I dont understand the reason why Salman Butt was dropped and forgotten about. Sure he had a bit of flaw playing outside off stump in which aussies worked him over, but he still had talent.
My suggestion to overcome this opener problem is simple, play your best batter at the top and who is the best batter? Mohammad Yousef!
He is simply wasted where he bats now.
Yousef can be the ideal batsman where he can bat or try to bat the whole innings. Im sure he has the technique to handle the conditions, especially in WestIndies at the start.

I dont think GUL is a one day bowler and may be subject to some batterings given his relative inexperience. It is important that the team can bat deep to get 300+ scores.

Rarely do we see an unbroken string of great players replacing one another. You have gaps in between and for this position Pakistan seems to be going through a big gap. Partly because the people at the helm of affairs have not bothered to look in the right direction.

However, a makeshift pair alone will not make the Pakistan challenge a genuine one. Too many Band Aids are required to hold this ship from disintegrating. We have just finished the Shoaib- Asif-drug-issue postmortem (or should I call it the premortem). There is the issue of bowling at large (with or without the two gentlemen), the captain's capability, wicket keeping, suicidal tendencies, infighting, bans (potential and imposed), ........

Having said that I also beleive that if the team unites for a cause then it can still WIN the cup. The skill is there, the ability is also there but the spark is missing. Inzi and gang need to just provide the spark and things will fall into place.

In My opinion Imran Nazir should be given go ahead and should be told that you are the opener for the complete Worldcup. In first two games we don't have shahid afridi(thanks to malcom speed) so obvious choice is Hafeez and 2 games are and should be enough for hafeez to prove himself . But again like so many inning he had played, he looks so solid for 25-30 runs and then loss his wicket which I think is a psychological problem rather than skills. What are you doing BOB?

Pakistan gave Kamran Akmal no rest even when he wasnt perfoming well with the gloves and he now is starting to get better. Pakistan should have stuck with the same pair of Salman Butt and yasir Hammed and even if they werent performing they should have been helped by the pcb and the coaches and get better. But not having trusted their openers and kept swapping and changing the opners themeselves would have lost trust in themeslves and the coaches aswell as the board. An example is Taufic Umer. He only played 1 or 2 tests in England and was sent back home. This also happened to Salman Butt.

Even in 92 world cup, Imran tried Zahid Fazal againt India and S.Africa as a stopgate opener. Younis i remember has been tried once but failed. Another case of middle order becoming an opener is Saeed Anwar, and boy what a decision it turned out to be.

Both the openers (Imran Nazir and Hafeez) wont be playing together in the big matches, since Shoaib Malik needs to be accomodated in the midlle order so one of the opener needs to be sacrificed. To support the opener either Younis,Kamran or Shoaib Malik might move up. I think the management will give a chance to both the openers in the first five games before the 'Super 8's'starts and than one which performs better in those five games will get a chance to play in the Super 8's. There is one more possibility that Younis might don the wicket keeping gloves and both openers play since Younis wont do much worse than what Kamran is doing in the wicket keeping role

pakistan have very serious problem in opening and our tradition says we perhaps never had any geniune oppener,saeed anwar,majid,rameez all were middle order batsman,but wise and brave imran send them as oppener and time proved they were sucessful,what u need in an oppener ,a solid technique,temprament,average close to 40.if we see our expected oppening pair for this word cup ,we dont ve any oppener who can play long innings or his average is close to even 30,i think inzamm should take this challenege,he should open the innings with hafeez or nazir,we have plenty of talent to cover his late no 6 position.this is the only solution to resolve pakistan oppening problem.

I believe for the world cup, since the wickets are more like home, and not with much bounce, Nazir and Hafeez can do a decent job for Pakistan, though this doesnot look likea long term solution, for the team needs openers with the best technique, and certainly Imrna Nazir doesnot seem to possess that nor does he seem to possess the temprament. hafeez though loooks to have improved his technique since he has come back. I think our batting will do good in those comditions ,however it is the bowling combnination that would be the main area of concern, with the injuries to our main strike bowlers, it is the main area of concern.

Hasn't Hafeez been given enough chance and his average fails to rise above 20? I admire his fielding and getting crucial overs in bowling but still he doesn't seem to be the answer. Nazir is a better bet though I'd still have Hameed and Butt as the openers just loike Imran said. I donno what Hameed has done wrong to be out of the squad. Butt should be given more chances too.

Peronally I don't think Pakistan will go much further than Super 8's this time around. Make no mistake I wish they would win it (that one superb victory against SA raised hopes) but that doesn't look like a realistic option as of now ....

The time for experimenting is over.Pakistan have made their choices and now its time to stick to their guns, show faith in those picked and give them as much encouragement as possible.Ability is not their problem-but lack of confidence and temperament certianly is, especially with their openers.the openers must know where there off stump is and show good judgement in playing and leaving the ball in the 'corridor of uncertainty', especially during the first ten overs.If in doubt, consult geoffery Boycott!
Good Luck Pakistan..............certainly going to need some.........if they are to win the cup.

I admire your optimism Kamran. I do not believe that the Hafeez/Nazir combo will succeed in the Super 8s. We will likely see Malik and/or Akmal as one of the openers before it is too long. I do agree with you that the opening problem is going to end up being the achilles heel of the Pakistan team because they need to put up good totals for their bowlers especially if Shoaib and Asif are out. I believe Younis with Nazir or Hafeez is the best option.

This is a never ending debate Kamran... Names / faces will change but the volatile temperament is the same.
Let's just hope whoever opens the innings can keep their heads and put a price on their wickets.
Please, don't sacrifice YK as opener now - neither Yousuf nor Inzi will take No. 3 spot - and the other option (Hameed) is not there...

Pakistan can try as many opening combinations as it likes, if they actually score any runs it will be like a bonus for pakistan.In the end, weather yousaf,younus and inzi have scored runs or not will make the difference. Dont expect openers to score, and i seriously doubt they will (score).
Good Luck to Pakistan against all hope!

Openers should be Afridi & Akmal, if they both get it right, the match would be finished within 20 overs

As far as WORLDCUP and opening problem is concerned, we must keep in mind that World Cup is not going to be held in South Africa, Australia or England. We will have totally different pitches in West Indies. So we must see opening problems in that perspective. So, based on the situation we can choose from Imran Nazir, Afridi, Hafeez and Kamran Akmal. It will not be a big problem for any of these players. I am sure that these wickets are ideal for these players. Imran gave one good start in South Africa and we all know the rest.

We just need to give them some confidence. I think they are as good as any other opening batsman (At least on the wickets in West Indies).

While talking about long term planning, YES, We have a problem with our opening pairs.
We need opening players who can perform any where in the World, regardless of the type of wickets.

But I have no real worries about our batting in the World Cup 2007. But I am not sure about bowling.

Mr Abbasi,
Thank God you have chosen a more contentious and interesting topic than dope test problems! Surely this one will garner more comments from the fans.
There is a difference between knowing something in theory and knowing something in practice. Pakistan have not really toured West Indies that much to be familiar with the conditions there. Hence, the assertion that Pakistan will adapt nicely to the conditions in WI owing to the tropical nature of the pitch, is a refutable one. Jogging my memory back, I recall Pakistan even found themselves at odds with Indian pitches recently! The reason I mention the nature of the pitches is because if the pitches are similar to that of Pakistan, than surely a right/left hand combination would work more than the partnership of Hafeez and Nazir. Salman Butt and Mohammad Hafeez would have been a more suitable pair, for this WC only though. I dare not mention Yasir Hameed because he has failed as an opener. So have Hafeez and Butt, but Pakistan’s current concern seems only to play mindless explosive hitters who have a 25% chance of success only. Hence Butt and Hafeez fit the description adequately. Let us forget Imran Farhat. The reason why Hafeez is chosen over Nazir is because the latter has not played enough ODI cricket recently and everything else being equal, Hafeez has been a more skilled batsman. Nazir needs to revamp his batting knowledge before he can start performing admirably; Hafeez, having been a regular member of the squad recently, will clearly have been instructed as to where his weaknesses lie and how to correct them.
I have been a staunch advocate for Kamran Akmal and Mohammad Yousuf to open for Pakistan is both ODI’s and Tests. Akmal has to bat somewhere in the order, if he scores then it’s a bonus, if he doesn’t, it was expected. A consistent player must be played in Akmal’s usual position lower down the order (i.e. players unlike Razzaq/Afridi). It’s time to dispense with the dream of the “specialist Pakistani opener”. That Nazir and Hafeez are part of Pakistan’s WC squad is a travesty.

We do face the opener dilemma, but we also need to hedge for the likely outcome that we will lose at least one of our openers early (in the first ten overs).

Imran Khan has consistenly vouched for Inzamam to bat at No. 3. I agree completely.

The job of a No. 3 batsman is to prevent a crisis, not cause further woes for the team. Inzi is the man for the job. The two Y's should play at No. 4 and No. 5.

Spot on Kamran. We've spent half a decade finding new openers but still we've failed miserably. And i think thats the biggest failure of Woolmer-Inzi regime.

I can sniff a strong smell of HOPE from your blog. And PRAY and HOPE is all we can do at the moment!

well guys i think pakistan should open with yasir hammed and imran nazir. i beleive that yasir hammed is a solid player who can get a solid start. when pakistan beat SA in one of the one dayers imran nazir gave pakistan a blistering start and should take great credit. he seems to be a very strong player and can damage the opisistion.

if pakistan want 2 chose somonelse maybae they should pick mr kamran Abassi for his great strokeplay and poor journelism.

Not taking yasir hameed to the WC was a BIG mistake. His last four ODI scores have been 40 plus! what more is required , i fail to understand. But one thing is for sure, Bob W will leave after the WC no matter what the result is. What has Bob done for Pakistan cricket that other coaches have not??? Perfect example, SA tour, the batsmen failed as they always do on such pitches with earlier coaches..so what was Bob's input one may ask?
back to the openers debate...with the current squad...i would like to see Afridi and Nazir open. Hafeez is useless and should be dropped down or out of the playing eleven as a matter of fact.

Kamran, i would say that instead of Younis Khan it has to be inzamam if Pakistan are to solve the opening problem. Lately Inzi hasnt been performing well and also he is our best player of pace bowling so why not have the captain open the inning. I remember when he opened in couple of innings against australia in 96-97 and he was successful. He is our best player and should be utilised on top of the order. I wont suggest Younis to open the innings because he takes sometime to get going which can create some pressure if he is out. Of course you cant expect him to make a 50 or 100 everytime he goes out.
Thanks
Shahid.

West Indian wickets will be lower and slower than SA. They should suit Pakistan. I think Pakistan should adopt an attacking strategy and open with Afridi and Nazir. Going by their stats they each click 20% of the time. If one of them gets going Pakistan can post a decent total. I beleive the first 15 overs will be crucial as the ball will come on which thse two will enjoy.

Unfortunately for me Hafeez is not really an opener. He has yet to play a decent memorable knock and I do not see him dominating quality bowlers like Pollock, Bond, Mcgrath, Zaheer or Vaas, those he will have to face on the road to the semi-finals. I do not expect Afridi or Nazir to dominate them but they stand a better chance of getting quick runs on the board.

Pakistan must get 10 overs out of Afridi and at least 5 from hafeez to justify their inclusion.

Malik should play at three, where he has been most successful and should bowl at least 5 overs.
That would leave just 35 overs to be bowlerd by the three or four specialists and/or Hafeez.

KAMRAN ABBASSI reckons that Imran Nazir and Hafeez should open the innings. I would suggest that Shoaib Malik be tried in place of Hafeez, because Malik has the ability to control his innings whereas, Hafeez doesn't. If Malik bats for longer period of time he also has the ability to explode later and he is very effective. With Shahid Afridi they should be flexible i.e., when they need to improve the run rate he should come up the order and accelerate the innings or else he bats at number 6. If Imran Nazir is not in the team for some reason then Afridi should open the innings. BUT Inzi MUST play at number 3 in every single match. Since we are discussing the opening conundrum this is all I would like to say on this thread.

Pakistan has absolutley no chance of winning the cup. I don't care which opening tandem they use. They have no hope!
Pakistan has always won games or when they won games, is solely on raw talent, without viable pace attack which use to be their strength.. They have no hope. They never been proficient or discipline team on and off the field.
So to say opener could've made any difference is abolutley ridiculous.
Not pissed off but my personal assessment.

Umer
Wash DC

I have a theory Kamran.
Do you think we have this dilemma in the opening slot because if we dont then who would praise yousuf, younus and inzamam.
If we had good opening pair do you really think we would really talk that much about the Trio.

The opening dilemma is the achilles heal of Pakistan cricket. For the most part, if Pakistan get a good opening stand, they end up putting a solid total on the board (case in point is the third ODI in the recent South Africa ODI series). I agree with Imran Khan that Hameed and Salmaan are the best available. Look at Hameed's record in his last few ODI's, and look at Salmaan's talent and temperment (he is the only opener who has succeeded on Australian wickets in his first series there). Imran Nazir probably has the most talent of all of the opener candidates but does not have the technique or temperment to be consistent. Hafeez has been tried and tested and lacks the consistentency. Given the present squad though, my vote is to try Malik and one of Nazir/Hafeez as the openers. Its too late to promote Younis as opener during the world cup as that has never been tried before. Pakistan missed golden opportunities in the lead up to the world cup to experiment and find the right combination with the openers, but they stuck with Hafeez and Farhat for too long and did not give enough time to gauge Hameed, Nazir, or Butt.

Have to agree with Imran, Butt and Hameed were probably the way to go. But now that we have these guys, and given that Afridi is unavailable for the first couple of games, you have no choice but to go for r and Hafeez atleast in the Warmups and the first round. If they don't succeed (and we still find ourselves in the 2nd round) I think Kamran's suggestion of opening with Younis, with Malik at 3 and Akmal at 6 with Afridi at 7 would be fine.

The bigger question is, will we have the courage to play one less allrounder (Razzak maybe) and play 4 specialist bowlers. Asif, Gul, Rao and Kaneria. In my view that would be the way to go.

i am baffled by the decision to keep salman butt and yasir hameed out of the squad.... why in the world aren't these players opening.... i agree with mr. Abbasi on this. i think Inzi, Younis and Yousuf will be once again asked to shoulder the burden of pakistani scoring. if they don't click we are in for an embarrassment.

the second major issue which i think much more attention needs to be given to are the bowling woes. with the prospect of shoaib and asif increasingly looking bleak, and the fact that the others are bound to get injured within a couple of games into the cup....who will be bowl for pakistan???

anybody! help!!!

It's sad to see that Pakistan have been unable to establish a decent opening pair. Every other team in the WC (with the exception of maybe England) has a good opening pair to rely on. And now with a very fragile looking bowling attack, Pakistan really needs their top order batting to fire consistently. Also, it's really sad to see a promising player such as Yasir Hameed has been left out, and Imran Nazir has been given a chance on the basis of one good performance. Neverthless, I agree with you Kamran, that the West Indian wickets may just suit the Pakistanis. (Inshallah)

Th ebest openers i see are imran nazir and salman butt. Nazir has natural talent and can score very quickly and turn the game around in a few overs. What pakistan need to do is stick with a pair for a while so the players can bond and get a chemistry going between them which will help their batting.

I agree with you that Muhammad Hafeez and Imran Nazir should open. If these two can deleiver and especially Imran Nazir can hold his nerve, it can be one big joy ride for Pakistan. Those who have seen Hafeez in 20/20 Domestic Competition would know that he can be as dangerous as any one in the team. Pakistanis just need to hold it together and make sure that they don't panic. Occasional tactical change can be accepted but stability will be the key factor. Lets all hope for the best!

In my view Opener should always have a good natural foot work. Hafeez has habit of committing himself to front foot and Nazir commits to backfoot. Kamran Akmal has a better foot work and looking at some of his test innings under difficult conditions he looked like a good choice but in one days he always looks to be try to overdo the job. He should also modify his cut shot a little to be over the field like Sehwag. Shoaib Malik can be another option for West Indies surfaces only, He is not particularly good at back foot but I think he enjoys slow bounce and has a strong head. In my view Malik-Akmal or Malik-Nazir pair is worth giving a shot in WI conditions but captain has to give Akmal or Nazir some doze to make sure that they get out only on good deliveries. Afridi should never be considered an opener, he should only be used in slog overs with no pressure of keeping his wicket so that he can hit freely.

i hope for evryones sake your right...as for the salmab butt -yasir hammed pair now that you mention it one cant halp but thing y it wasnt tried....it seems to be a very logical answer to pakistans opening problem....one that certainly warrents a try.

Well I agree with you comments Mr. Kamran. The dillema of Pakistan finding the right pair of openers has always and always plagued us. I do however feel despite Yasir Hameed missing out, the opening pair we are taking (Imran Nazir & Mohammed Hafeez) is possibly the best we have at the moment. Enough chances have been given to likes of Salman Butt/Imran Farhat and thy have time and time failed to impress and seal their position. Imran Nazir, i have been following for sometime and he lacked International match practise but he has all the abilities (esp on the West Indian wickets) to take the bowlers apart. In Hafeez and Nazir we not only have (resonably) reliable openers but also energetic fielders (Hafeez also as a bowler).
So best of luck to Pakistan and each and every player for the worldcup...

i love yasir hameed opening with hafeez

Sweet kamran & friends!

No disagreement at all that we had weak support from openers. In my understanding the issue is not just openers. It’s more associated with Emotional Intelligence. We had poor game plan. In some cases, when it was better, we had poor execution. In case of it’s failure, we probably did not have effective alternative plans. Our dilemma is poor leadership. Inzi & Woolmer both are big names but definitely, somebody is responsible for nervous reflection in stressed conditions during matches. Our biggest issue is poor mental health, we can’t take pressure. We always look flat. No resistance at all. No life. No strive. Success in any competitive environment demands leadership, vision/ direction, management, self belief, faith, motivation, team focus & hard work. Body language is always a key message to opponents. Fielding is the key. Look coherent to dominate.

To resolve this opening issue, in my perception, best option is Younus khan joining Imran Nazir. If you look at his arrival at the crease, it’s in most of the cases like an opener, very early in the innings. So a big player should join officially the opening squad. Our both opener, in most of the cases seem to play same type of game. No anchor role at one end at one time. Both try to play fast. One opener should be cool minded & staying.

Inzi has poor time with the bat. He being a captain should lead from the front. He must come at top the order, I mean one down. Then fit a junior player at two down. Muhammad yousaf should be repositioned at No. 5. In case of top order failure, he being consistent can be relied on.

Inzi at tha back, in the middle, makes relax feeling for players before him & he now a days does nothing in most of the cases, especially when we have stress. I don’t mean by any way that he is not a big player. He had been a great legend but unfortunately since long not very consistent. To be successful, we don’t need bigger names; we need fighters, effective players with results. Utilize Afridi better.

Have game plan. Utilize the available resource effectively. Induce! We can do it belief in the team & see the magic.

Good Luck Pakistan. Hope to see you at least in Semis.

Jauhar

I totally agree. Yasir Hameed would have been an ideal choice with a string of good scores under his belt in the last 4-5 ODI's that he's played, with a good solid technique (much better than both Hafeez and Imran Nazir), he would've been an asset in the Caribbean. I don’t see the point of including both Hafeez and Shoaib Malik in the same side. Both are equal in every respect, but Malik has a clear cut edge with his much better consistency and temperament. Plus we already have a dasher in Imran, it would’ve been better to include Hameed (instead of Hafeez), who has a better technique and temperament.

I like the idea of Younis opening. Gives more strength in the middle order that way. Pakistan’s most successful strategy in history has been to save wickets and then hit towards the end. Maybe Younis can provide some stability in the beginning.

Very big problem for pakistan but I think Imran had the best option. Hafeez does not score consistent enough (every third innings is a duck) because of his faults in technique. Imran Nazir plays well and will do well on WI pitches but he cant control his aggression and tries to crosshit full deliveries.
Pakistan should go with Afridi who had a great trip last time over there and he can give the theam a good postive start.
So Imran Nazir and Afridi are my selection.

The road to Jamaica is indeed rough and especially for the openers. I think Pakistan under estimated Yasir Hameed and he should have been given a chance in One Days. We can only wish that Pakistani openers come out of their "low on confidence syndrome" and start playing like opening batsmen. For long we have chased the out swingers and pulled to early and paid the price whether a left hand or right. The stage is all set and its times to impress with your skills and just not be a show man at the pitch anymore.
Younis Khan opening with either Imran Nazir, Kamran Akmal or Hafeez might be a good strategy as having a senior, experienced player at the one end will keep others in check at the other end. A combination of Younis Khan and Shoaib Malik might do wonders too. Why not try this combination in the first 2 warmup games ?
hmm .. too many confusing options.

Inzi should learn something from his '92 captain and that is learning how to take a RESPONSIBILITY .Now that he knows that he does not have any openers so he should just make Hafeez and Younis open and like all the captain he should move his lazy Butt up to #3 and let Yousaf stay where he is at #4, and i'm sure rest of the line him and Bob can work out .
BUT TO WIN THIS WORLDCUP INZI GOTTA MOVE UP .
INZAMAN IF U CAN HEAR ME OUT , DUDE PLZ MOVE UP FOR THE SAKE OF ALL THE PAKISTANI WHO WANTS HIM TO WIN THE WORLD CUP JUST LIKE HE DID FOR US IN '92.

When saeed anwar used to open, inzaman used to come one down sometimes. And inzi does avg quite well in the 3 slot. He also played a couple innings opening and he did pretty good. So whats wrong now. When anwar's gone, Inzi should actually be in the number 3 position, or better yet, even open!. I think inzi's age has taken its tole. When people get older, their hunger increases. Yousef probably even told inzi to come at 3, but inzi as usual would reply 'Mera liee khana kon khai ga? tera bap??? (who will eat food for me you damn fool). Apparently he likes watching something while eating, and what better than to watch his inexperianced batsmen made fool of themselves by the opposition bowlers.
And enough with the taliban for god sakes. I know cricket is not a beauty contest, but an idol should look his best because many people look up to them. Now half our team looks like those planet of the apes guys.

Hi Kamran, I am a die hard fan of Pakistani cricket and have followed them since i started watching cricket, apart from Amir Sohail and Saeed Anwar Pakistan have never been able to produce an opening pair because they are not patient enough, it doesnt take 10 years to develop an opening pair. For this World Cup, Pakistan should open with Mohammed Hafeez and Imran Nazir and stick to them during the whole tournament, they need to give them confidence and may be someone needs to speak to them and explain their role to them, Nazir in my my eyes is probably the best opener w have at the moment, opening with Afridi or Akmal is just waste of time, keep them in the lower order for quick scoring in the final overs. I hope Pakistan do well in the World Cup and bring it back to Pakistan, I wish them all the best and may Allah give them strength.

There has been plenty of bru-ha-ha about our opening troubles...I just wonder...what ever happened to the effective, Butt/Hamid combination? Both understood eachothers game, scored at a fair tick, filled the righty/lefty role....and despite Yasir's susceptbility to the ball outside off and moving away......did a pretty consistent job for us......That was as close to Ramiz/Aamer as you can get.......Sigh...Anyway.....Off to the world cup!

Yasir Hameeds only problem is that he has a slow strike rate. But he is a opener so it is ok as long as he can stick around and keep his wicket.
It is better then to have Nazir or Hafeez who will start swinging the bat early on and get out in the 20's or 30's.
Salman Butt was axed from the team a year ago after a small slump after a great year...why wasn't he given another shot as he does have talent.
All in all...picking Nazir shows the team management being desperate. They are now just praying that Nazir somehow does well. Maybe there next move will be to axe Younis or Yousaf and bring back Taufeeq Umer haha.

It doesn't matter who plays they will be rubbish. Both technically and tempermentally they will be poor. We have produced one decent opener in the 26 years since i have been watching that was Saeed Anwar.
What has really astounded me is there serios lack of cricketing intelligence. Take any opener we have and one thing they all have in common is that they are thick. Contrast this to the australian players or players from SA and you see the difference in class and brains.

Hello kamran, To me this is common sense to send younis khan as an opener, there is no question about it in my mind. He comes to the wicket under 5 overs anyway so why not send him as a opener? he certainly not a dasher but who cares aslong as he can stay on the wicket at leats first 10 overs. Its been happening, whenever our openers score, our middle order respond. There is no rocket science to it and inzi and bob should make their mind right now and stick to it.

So the question still remains God knows for how long? What is the best combination that Pakistan has at its disposal? I guess nobody knows as it remains a mystery. A PCB created mystery that is. The incompetent cricket body on the planet has made it worst over the last few years and still has no clue. They have changed openers like a mother changing Huggy Diapers for a baby.

I have been reading a lot of views of the Pakistani fans and cricket fans in general, who all have their own ideas of what the best combination should be out of 5 or 6 players that Pakistan tried in recent times. Unfortunately most of them seem as confused as the PCB over this dilemma. There isn’t one decent consensus on the best combination available. A lot of this should also be blamed on the players themselves as they never grabbed their chances fully due to inconsistent performances and at times were unlucky not to be given enough chances by the incompetent selectors. So everybody has their own favorites.

I personally feel it’s a bigger problem than finding the good openers at the moment. I really believe and certainly agree with Imran Khan who has been saying this for decades that the domestic cricket structure is futile and needs completer overhaul in order to produce quality and technically sound batsmen and bowlers. The lack of proper infrastructure combined with dead wickets that these guys grow up playing on are to be blamed for the issues that we face today. Unless PCB can tackle these issues I have no hope of us finding the quality players for Pakistan in future.

I think out of the given lot, I would pick the following guys based on their averages, their temperament and their technique, who I think if given enough chances, might come good for Pakistan.
1). Yasir Hameed
2). Salman Butt
3). Mohammed Hafeez

All three have one weakness in common and that’s chasing a delivery outside the off stump!

Well, I think now there is no need to cry about why yasir or salman but were not given chances. What we need is to make the most of the openers we have in the squad. I don't see any problem with Imran and Hafeez opening together or even Imran with Afridi ( if the wickets are more subcontinent style) but What is required is that both the openers should know what their role is. And their role should be designed according to their skills and abilities. You can't expect Nazir or Afridi to be sent in to see off the new ball , They need to be exactly told that their role is to put pressure on the opposition rite from the word go . And at the same time you have to tell Hafeez or Akmal that if Imran or Afridi is going great at the other end then there is no need for them to play their famous pull shots. Over all its just how pakis plan their innings. I would say that these days you cant just sit back and wait for the loose ball. Its aggressive cricket, people like Smith, Divvellers, Gilchrist, Gayle, Jaysuria and Ganguly will be opening the innings for others. We need to have the same attacking strategy but at the same time shot selections have to be improved. The openers need to be aggressive but they don't need to slog.

Assa lamualaikum ...
Yasir and Salman are good openers but consistency is the key to success, in my view Yaser Hameed and Imran Nazir would be the best....

It has to be said that arguably Pakistan's two best openers have been left out of the 15 man squad as pointed out by Imran Khan. However I disagree on your opinion that Hafeez should partner Nazir. I think Younis would make for a great opener and could be the perfect foil for an aggressive Imran Nazir. We saw slight glimpses of the partnership in South Africa, but on West Indian pitches it would be nice to have Nazir smashing at one end while Younis scampers singles and cracks the odd boundary while maintaining his wicket. The problem I found with Hafeez was that he played to unnaturally. He would get bogged down in a defensive frame of mind. (as was demonstrated by an over in which he left the first 5 balls of the innings only to edge one off Pollock on the final ball of the over)
The combination that should have been (Butt and Hameed) may have been hard done by the selectors, but surely Inzy and Bob must try the Younis Nazir combination atleast in the warm up matches.

Agree, Yasir Hameed has had a raw deal by not being selected for the World Cup as he could even bat lower down the order. Am not sure about Salman Buttt as his record is not too good either. I would have opted for Imran Farhat instead of Hafeez as Imran Farhat is a fighter - despite his weakness outside the off stump because of his ability to put a price on his wicket. The likes of Imran Nazir and Afridi have about one chance in five of coming good and therefore the odds of them succeeding are not good. Imran Nazir, Afridi and Razzak are all in the same mould and a great risk to the team if the three of them do not come good in a match.

A left right opening combination would have been the best option as it tends to throw the bowlers off. A pity there was no serious thought process given to the selection of the team. With Rana Naveed in the team, Pakistan's chances are very slim and this is not even taking the fitness factor into considertion. With Pakistan having the WORST captain of the top eight test playing nations, the chances of doing well are almost negligent.

Still, strange things can happen if God answers Inzi's prayers as he sure has put a lot of effort into it - instead of batting practice and fitness. This is the first World Cup I can remember Pakistan going into - with virtually NO chance at all. However, this is a game of glorious uncertainties as exemplified by India winning the World Cup in the eighties.

Furhad Yaqubian
Toronto, Canada

I Pakistan does not open with Afridi it will be the worst decision one could make. All you need is Afridi to stay in the crease till the end of the first compulsory powerplay and Pakistan will be merryly on their way to the World Cup Final. The ideal partner for Afridi will be Imran Nazir,

From the squad announced for the world cup i personally feel that Younis Khan who has probably been Pakistan's most reliable performer along with Mohammed Yousuf should go and open the innings along with Imran Nazir. Younis is virtually opening every game as he has to walk out to bat in the first few overs of almost every innings. His technique is best suited to face the new ball. Because he is an extremely fit individual he can give a stand from one end. He his excellent between the wickets, always keeps the score board ticking over and produce those big boundries when needed. His experience can also help Imran nazir and he can be his natrual self knowing that someone sensible is at the other end. Shoaib malik can take Younis's place at three as he has an excellent record at that number and he is a very similar player to younis. And since neither inzi or yousuf or too keen to bat at three. I think i amke sense. the rest is upto BOB and Inzi

To start wih i don't think that taking Nazir and Haffez is a good idea. Hafeez has an average of 19 in 45 matches and a Stirke Rate of just 57. Yes he can bowl some overs but when u r taking only 2 specialist openers to the world cup then the batting skills should be the criteria for the selection. Imran Nazir was not in plan for the last 2-3 years and suddenly on the basis of one knock he is in the team. The two openers should have been from Salman Butt, Imran Farhat and Yasir Hameed.

The best player to open in the ODI. Pakistan in the past has tried Majid Khan with Zaheer Abbas their best bat at no. 3 spot. India has experimented with Tandulker with success. Both Yasser Hamid and Salman Butt have been tried in the past. So why not experiment with Younus Khan and Shoaib Mailk as openers so you can have a few allrounders in the middle.

I feel that Imran Khan is correct in saying Butt and Hameed should be in the squad, but in place of whom? Butt for Hafeez! that leaves hameed.. sorry mate.. hard luck. you should definately be in the test squad though! the rest who are in the squad, 'play with all you got.. spirit and determination. but mainly bottle! succeed and do your nation proud.you stil have one of Imran's cornered tiger's from 1992, in the form of Inzamam ul haq. c'mon big fella deliver for us and its the perfect farewell. reminiscient to imran himself minus the charisma and add a few extra pounds, but he's still a legend!

I think that salman butt and yasir hameed were thre right choice but for some stupid reason they were not selected.

looking at pakistans world cup squad i wud put mohammad hafeez and younis khan as the opening pair or maybe shoaib malik.the reason i wud put younis khan as the opener iz because he cums in after 5 overs anyway.as the no.3 i wud have Abdul Razzaq because he did well in that position in the last WC and he iz a class player.
i hope pakistan win the world cup
inshaallah they will win the world cup

I believe inzamam made a huge mistake by not experimenting with the batting order in the series before the world cup....he could have shifted many of his middle order batsmen to the top slot....I also believe that the selectors could also have given Salman Butt a chance before the world cup as well.Iam outraged with the decison of the pakistani selectors to withdraw Yasir Hameed from the world cup squad when he had proven himself worthy of a ticket to the carribean.Well,with the current line-up,I believe that Pakistan should open with Hafeez and Nazir in their first match against the West Indies and Akmal and Nazir ind the second against Ireland.

The opening pairing has been the perennial problem for Pakistan. I disagree with Kamran about Mohammed Hafeez being involved. He avearges 18. He keeps getting out caught behind or slip which shows he doesn't the swinging ball very well.

I think we have to go for the two specialists in butt and nazir. On slow and low wickets these boys should be able to adapt to the conditions.

We have tried akmal and afridi but they are better utilised at 6/7. So Butt and nazir would be my choice

Well on Openers, I will definitely say that Yasir Hameed was the man that should have been in there, i mean what else is required of him especially looking at his recent ODI record. The perfect pair should have been Yasir Hameed with Mohammad Hafeez. Since there is no yasir, i will opt for Hafeez-Malik combination. Espacially the performances of Shoaib Malik in the recently concluded series.

When i read Javed Miandad story about "its too late for pep talk". Saeed Anwar comes in mind why he's not invited. Stylish left hander gave lot reason to Pakistan to be proud team. PCB official sitting in their office just filling up their pockets and enjoying the life style provided by gov. They should let cricketer who knows about cricket run Pakistan Cricket Board. For me all these top official including Nasim Asharaf nothing but garbage. Chairman saved his seat by publicizing Shoiab and Asif. It so wrong to say Pakistan has not yet find opening pair. Salman Butt was grooming and need moral support from his captain and coach was completely ignored. He proved himself once again showing in domestic season that he is capable batsman. Salman Butt is super star because if he can score his first century against india. He is more than affective player. For example Roa iftakar what player he is come sit back and enjoy his fragile bowling action. Getting rid of Waqar Younis another problem for fast bowlers. What the hell Mustaq Ahmed knows about fast bowling? There are so many stories we can discuss but only solution to everything is that people in Pakistan need to stand up to fire these top official of PCB. Just imagine if Imran Khan running this PCB.

Yaseer Hamid should have been picked for world cup with Imran Nazir...what I wanna know...WHO'S PAWWA IS BEHIND PICKING MOHAMMAD HAFEEZ? AND WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU NOT OPEN WITH AFRIDI IN THE BOWLING RESTRICTIONS?

FEELS LIKE MONKEYS ARE RUNNING CRICKET IN PAKISTAN !

I am agree with you that it is realy an awful situation that PAKISTAN cannot establish a solid opening pair in almost a decade since the departure of Aamir Sohail. First we cannot find a partener for great SAEED ANWAR we have not made a serious effort it was not that difficult or impossible thing to find one opener from whole country. Now its realy a dilemma that who should open in all important WORLD CUP. I think we have to take some bold initiatives particularly by our senior players I would like that YOUNIS KHAN puts his hands up to open and the most demanding one for great INZAMAM to move himself to NO 3 position.

don't even start on salman butt...Pathan made a fool out him in the last series...but why would Yasir Hameed is excluded...who is running this moron selection? I guess the way world cup team is picked is by picking the worst players with the best source of a minister behind him in Pakistan Cricket....no wonder Pakistan team and PCB is becoming a laughing stock all over the world !

imran khan was right when he said yasser hameed and salman butt should be tried as an opening pair obviously the right left combination is an asset as well as its clearly easy to see that both players are better strokeplayers then any other opener pakistan have tried hafeez is probably better on wickets with movement and as for imran farhat he is not a natural hitter of the ball on the flat west indian batting pitches salman but and yasser hameed along with imran nazir should have been given their chance,,if pakistan fail in the world cup and if their openers fail bobby woolmer and clever old inzi should be prepared for some ritual self flaggellation,,,

I think openers should be able to give a fast and brisk start in an ODI..like Gilchrist (Aus), Smith (SA), Gayle (WI)..but our recent openers look like they have legs made of noodles...the only person I see is Afridi who can do maximum damage in early overs as he is a slogger..but PCB and Coach/Captain are soo dumb to realise that...WTF!

In pakistani team so much debate is going on about who,ll play as an opener salman butt,imran farhet , yasir hameed, imran nazir, there is so little diffrence in thier class that we can talk hour on who should be in team,
the real dilema is is that grass root of pakistan cricket bad start their cricket from tape ball cricket and they have so many flaws in their technicque that they will keep struggling untill god almighty will give us a natural telant autimaticaly.
but i,m sure this talk is a never ending talk about openers we should just shut up and keep our fingers croosed and pray may allah succed our team

I'm sorry Kamran. I personally think Imran Nazir has all the shots in the book to be an effective match winner at the top of the order. What’s infuriating and unfathomable though, is your unflinching support for Afridi. I know that Imran Nazir has a major problem with his shot selection. But if he had only been given the number of chances at the international level as Afridi the underperforming enigma has, he would have developed into a very good opening batsman! Sadly, our selectors never persevered with Imran for an extended period of time.
As for Imran Farhat, the less said the better. Hafeez nevertheless, I believe has been a 'touch' unlucky! I mean he regularly gets out in the 20s and the 30s to decent balls. He usually starts off well! Caresses a few through the covers, flicks a few off his pads. And just when you think, hmm Hafeez looks settled, boom! Out he goes… But by the law of averages, I'm sure he will do well in the upcoming tournament, especially when you consider the flat tracks that he shall be playing on. Lastly, Hameed...well yes, from the looks of his 4 pervious ODIs (spanning over a couple of years), I don't know what he has done to not get selected. In retrospect though, I would pick Imran Nazir over Hameed any day. Match winners Kamran. Isn't that what you always talk about?

Yes i think what imran is saying makes sense, we should have gone in with Salman and Yasir instead of the Nazir and Hafeez, Both do not have the temperament to make big scores, hafeez despite many opertunities has not delivered and always throws his wicket, Nazir is another Afridi and cannot be depended upon. Salman is a very good player with a slight problem that should have been addresses by now if we had a better manager and can make big scores,three 100's by this man and two while chasing big scores is an example, yasir is a very solid player and could have been the reserve wicketkeeper in this team if we needed to drop Akmal. This i beleive is the only mistake in the selection of the team for the WC.let us hope for pakistan's sake that the selected pair can come good and make useful contributions to lessen the burden on the middle order. We are hoping against hope.

I agree that the problem Pakistan has with the opening combination is not new and it's something that could be "the factor" in determining the outcome of the World Cup. It's a shame that Pakistan has failed consistantly to come with with the combination that could be a force to support the middle order. Salman Butt, during his time (before having problems against India and Pathan), was seen as the next Saeed Anwer. He really had the potential to go next level. His combination with Shoaib Malik was somewhat comfortable for the like of "big three" (younis, inzi, yousuf) to come and carry on. I also feel bad for Yasir Hameed. In my opinion he's one player whose really been overlooked. He's scored consistanly, whenever he's got the chance. He's had bad luck also during the South Africa tour as pitches weren't the best to bat on.

I also fail to understand the reasoning behind having Malik play down the order. If Pakistan is having such problems with finding the right combination, he's someone who has had reasonable success as an opener. If he's to open with Imran Nazir, that would still strengthen the lower order for the likes of Razzaq, Afridi, and Kamran to come and hit and do what they're doing.

Malik is also strong defensively and when required can launch some big one's. His combination with Imran Nazir can provide both stablity to some extent, and defense from one end.
I think Kamran and Nazir should not open together. This is due to the fact that both are very aggressive and immature to bat at 1 and 2. They can shine against minnors like Ireland but will be stand up to big teams such as South Africa and Australia ?

Hafeez on the other hand has had way too many chances and his ability to throw his wicket after getting a start is a worrying factor. I think Pakistan has picked him up to play it safe. His off-spin bowling option is the only thing in my mind that had to his advantage in edging out Yasir Hameed.

My Conclusion to this would be open Shoaib Malik with either Kamran Akmal or Imran Nazir. Having a Nazir-Hafeez combination would also limit Pakistan from playing 3 seamers and a specialist spinner, which in my mind could be a big factor in the West Indian pitches.

Younis Khan plays almost opener anyways. But playing him opener means you lose the strength of the middle order. Pakistan should have stuck with Salman Butt and Yasir Hameed. Inzamam likes all-rounders, which is why Hafeez always tends to get looked at favorably. Imran Nazir is yet to prove himself, but the team management is hoping that he keeps to the form he has - this must be a curse!
If Younis opens, Shoaib Malik should play one-down...

If Saeed Awnar shaves his beard, acquires a taste for booze, becomes a pimp, embraces the moderate enlightenement ideology, i.e. hands over his countrymen for a paltry few thousand dollars, participates in the bombing of his fellow citizens, lines up on tarmac at Chaklala Airbase to prostrate whenever an American janitor visits Pakistan, becomes an outspoken anti-islamic bigot, and renounces whatever religious awakening he may have had, the patron in chief of PCB, might just be tempted to bring him back as an opener....

I am SICK of seeing gutless, spineless, talentless so called openers giving chances again and again and again...Yasir Hameed exclusion is gonna haunt Pakistan bigtime in the middle of the tournament when their Hafeez's and Akmal's start falling like a sand wall...again!

Keeping in mind the overall composition and balance of the team, I will go with Imran Nazir and Kamran Akmal to open the innings. If Imran fails in early 2-3 matches, we can give Hafeez a few match, but opening with Akmal is important so that we can play three all rounders in the lower order.

Okay ..all this stuff about openers .try Butt /Hamid or Farhat /Hafeez ..is just futile and pathetic. All the four above have been consistently inconsistent and unpredictable. It is unfortunate but there is no silver lining among all four of the contenders. It actually points to the selection process at the under 15/19 levels , where systematically merit is ignored and crap like the above is infused as genuine talent ..and you know once a loser always a loser ..that is the case with the above four.
In all honesty , Imran Khan was responsible for some of the biggest selection screwups . Some of the finest batsmen produced in Pakistan had their career shortened by the Khan nepotism. Imran's suggestions can as such be ignored.

I saw Imran Nazir batting in the last one-dayer in South Africa. His wild yahoo shots would look better in a tape-ball tournament rather than opening for Pakistan. I think Abdul Qadir was correct when he mentioned on TV the other night that both Imran Nazir and Afridi have the same problem - they are both nuts.
Hafeez has consistently underperformed even if he gives the team a bowling option. Plus somehow all our openers favour the onside flick and often get leg before. This holds true for Yasir Hameed as well.
Hmmm - there is no simple solution to this issue. I guess we will have a merry go round of openers and will feel great when they last past the fifth over.

Imran Nazir coz of his hitting instincts and he will provide attacking option upfront and Salman Butt who is at this point the closest thing to Saeed Anwar..

No matter how we analyze,reanalyze or deanalyze it, this outfit aint gonna make it. Its not a cynical remark its the truth plain and simple.
Lesser talent with more spine does stand a fighting chance however Woolmer with his harebrained schemes and Inzy with his culture of hyperreligousity does not. As Oscar Wilde once said, 'the darkest hour is just before it goes completely dark.'

inzi will never let become sort their weaknesses while he is captain,
and bob aint got the guts to stand up to inzi and sort things out,
while inzi is captain you can expect the same negative attitiude and batting order shuffling to suit his fat belly and bad back in every match.
there was a time in 2004 that inzi used to lead from the front and he had succes hitting 2 centuries vs india and also hitting many 50's in the vb series.
sadly that inzi is no more and now all we have is a overweight negative captain who thinks about himself more than the team and languishes down the order.
as much as i want him to get 10,000 test runs and 12,000 odi runs if he continues to be like this i would prefer he retires instead of bringing more shame upon himself.
he should quit while people still respet him

Assa lamualaikum ...
Yasir and Salman are good openers but consistency is the key to success, in my view Yaser Hameed and Imran Nazir would be the best....

Yeah, well, why not Younis and Yousuf anyway? They otherwise come on in the 3rd and 4th over respectively anyway... and one can play all the allrounders then... Inzy at 3, and Afridi, Razzaq, Malik and Hafeez can all play, and Akmal next. And one can even think of using Hafeez as a semi-Mahanama circa '96... to hold it together if all is crumbling. And that's the only way Kaneria will get a game.

Imran Khan has gone wrong on a number of occasions when he backed Zahid Fazal, Sami etc and now Yasir Hameed and salman butt.. we have no openers at all and thts final.. the disappointing play and selection of shots by all the batsmen in South Africa have shown their credentials (which are none to ssy).. Inzamam should start batting at the last position after sending the bowlers to play as we have seen his cowardly approach to his own batting order and his captaincy in general.. younis (more or less) played as an opener anyways in SA series and did well.. why dont we have Younis & Malik as openers, Yousuf as one down (most important position in any match), Inzi second down (for god sake dont waste ur talent coming down the order). what Inzi is doing is lame captaincy of letting the same opening problem happening again and again and putting more pressure on him and good batsmen.. Razzaq what can i say about him, most senseless crickter of the pak team.. never plays to occasion.. he is like robot with the captain feeding in his mind.. they say to him to play slowly and he will make 2 runs in 90 balls and get out.. wo gr8 work chump.. no thinking players in our camp... 4 years wasted from the previous world cup and team in disarray.. paper tigers i must say..
no world cup glory this time.. loads of credit to Mr Imran Khan who won it for us in 1992..

Wishful thinking Kamran!!! It is said that Pakistan has the most raw talent available....Well, just like crude oil can't be used to fuel automobiles, raw cricketers cannot be counted on to deliver time and again...We need to think long term..BUt this is not the time..For now as you sya persist with what you have...I wonder (and I pray) that this weakness can be turned into strength for althoug I am rational, I love cricket and love exceeds rationality by a distance

It is no point cribbing about the team or openers we have for the world cup. We have what we have and we need to make the most of it.
I would think Shoaib Malik should open with nazir for a variety of reasons. Shoaib looked very steady in South Africa and he has been tried and tested at the number 3 slot (which invariably was like an operner's slot due to our operners' early dismisals). However Hafeez cannot be left out of the side (unless kaneria is played) because of the slow low West Indian pitches. We need another spinner along with afridi and shoaib malik.
No matter what combination we go with, hafeez has atleast the first 2 games to prove himself as Afridi will miss out.
Bottom line..shoaib malik should open with nazir to give us some sort of stability and then hafeez can come in at 6,7 or 8 (more as a hitter than a responsibility role) depending on the situation.