hmm happy that pakistan has won the series--a clean sweep would have been the best start for the new paki team but a 2-1 series win is also gud--pak could have won the match if they had played the same 11 that played in the 1st 2 matches but we had to try new guys out so the result dont matter--
one thing which i didnt like abt malik in the last game was that he didnt give fawad alam bowling--or i guess he forgot that he is an allrounder--when hafeez was being hit 6 in an over y did he not call up fawad alam or he could have come himself--he did bowl well in the 2nd match-
on the whole the team is gud we just want gud replacement of razzaq and i guess that will be done my shoiab akhter when he returns !!aur fawad alam --i feel sorry for fawad alam--better luck next time !!!i feel sorry for akmal too the way he got run out..
PROUD 2 BE A PAKISTANI

Dear Mr.Abbasi,
Good Article.I fully agree when you say Shoib Malik Made mistakes. I think where Pakistan lost the match was right at the start when they decided to rest Imran Nazir & Afridi, 50 percent of the momentum was handed back to SL. I truly believe Paks should have gone for a clean sweep and ridiculed SL who were World Cup finalist. That would have given Malik a very confident headway start to his tenure as Captain. Anyway onething we know these two countries have good brotherly relations and certainly SL would not have preferred a clean sweep at the hands of first round exited WC team. So in my opinion more than SL, Pakistan would have wanted to give a graceful send off to Moody by fielding a more than depleted side. Over to you guys.

why did not Shoaib bring Fawad Alam to bowl?

Nadeem
UK

There is no mention on Cricinfo fixtures of this forthcoming Pakistan vs South Africa series. Can someone tell me when it will be played?

This might be a better beginning than expected but there are a lot of negatives to be taken from this series, some which were certainly UNexpected. Pakistani cricketers are poor at learning from their mistakes but I can only hope they do.

The most obvious blemishes first. Salman Butt played a nothing shot. It was an unusual dismissal and one which ought to haunt him constantly. I don’t expect a professional cricketer to play that type of shot at this level. You could see that he did not read the length of the ball and he was totally puzzled where the ball was going. Most people on this blog thought that he is a long term answer to Pakistan’s opening fiasco but I repeatedly stated that he needs more experience domestically. Yes he demonstrated some consistency in the first two matches but looked out of sorts in the third match, where Pakistan were under severe pressure.

Yasir Hameed is more able but he has a tendency to play that silly pull shot which has got the better of him on quite a few occasions now. He has the talent but he has demonstrated poor learning ability. I first noticed this problem with him three years ago and he hasn’t got rid of it.

Hafeez played very well until his silly decision to run and then stop and run back. Maybe there was a run there but poor running between the wickets (and this applies to all batsmen) is a self explanatory ailment.

Mohammad Yousuf’s form has been worrying me lately. I wonder if it’s anything to do with the captaincy and vice captaincy going to the juniors with Afridi also being proactive in the decision-making process. It was pathetic to see him getting LBW to Fernando considering the amazing form he has been in for the past two years. Maybe he should seek retirement from ODI’s with Fawad Alam or Mohammad Hafeez (or Misbah-ul-Haq, Asim Kamal or Hasan Raza) taking his position in the middle order. I did not want to admit this prior to this Sri Lanka series, but Yousuf seems increasingly jaded, which is astounding, considering the amazing 2006 he had.

The tragedy of Fawad Alam! First he gets neglected for the first two important matches. He is selected to play in a relatively unimportant match. Faras Ghani (Cricinfo writer) called him the “star” of Pakistan’s recent domestic season. If his inclusion only in this unimportant match is not relegating enough, he was not given a chance to bowl. This is especially noteworthy considering his reputation in the domestic circles as a “crafty partnership-breaker” (he could have been used when Jayaweredene and Silva were thrashing the bowlers) and also the fact that he took 5 wickets in that Twenty20 final vs Sialkot. Malik was also playing in that match! What is the justification for this slipshod treatment of this youngster? Is Shoaib Malik jealous? Sure Fawad played a poor shot but this kind of treatment does make you nervous and makes you feel inconsequential.

Najaf Shah was noticeable although I wouldn’t say it was a dream debut. But he has a long way to go, that much is certain.

Rao should be an automatic selection if you ask me. Asif looks like he gets tired too easily, maybe that’s because the effect of the drugs wearing off :). I would prefer if Rao is made the vice captain in Asif’s place. That is because Rao has not got many chances to display his talent yet and I believe he is more than capable even in the Test arena. He can bat and if played his batting will only get better. He looks like a good candidate to take over Abdul Razzaq as Pakistan’s premier bowling all rounder. Where he isn’t so good is the death overs but his stinging accuracy with the new ball makes up for everything else. He has been consistent which is his greatest asset.

For me the biggest positive of this series was Malik’s innings in the last match. It was an excellent knock played with guts and determination. The significance of that innings cannot be undermined as it denotes that Malik will not let captaincy affect his batting. Rahul Dravid is not as shrewd a captain as Ganguly or Azharuddin, but if you ask me the reason why he is still captain even after the WC disaster is because his batting has become more responsible with his captaincy and for the Indian think-tank, that benefit overcomes everything else.

Finally what is this obsession with playing 6 or 7 bowlers but using only 5 to utilise the 50 overs? I don’t understand this tactic from Malik. Especially since in today’s match Malik himself could have bowled a few overs along with Fawad to add some variety to the attack. I just don’t understand it; Malik needs to sort this strategy out.

Nice to see the team spirit and despite my critical tone, Malik has passed the first test. We saw two things which are a rarity in Pakistan cricket; Salman Butt scoring in excess of 30 in two consecutive innings and Afridi being considered for Man of the Series. Will things only get better? I hope Inshallah they do!

Dear Mr. Abbasi
I am writing you because I am extremely disappointed with PCB for making Shoaib Malik captain of Pakistan team. He is the same guy who wanted the media to pay him for interviews because he has an inferiority complex about the amount of money he is making compared to the Indian star players.I think he will reinstate the betting culture in the team and we will have the same shameless defeats as we had in the past.
God have mercy on us
Long live Pakistan cricket
thanks
Adnan

First of all total respect to the srilankans for completely out playing Pakistan in the final game.

Will the selectors keep patience with these players is another issue. I think if they had stuck with the likes of Wajahatullah Wasti,Mohammed Wasim and Saleem Elahi even they may have turned in to world class.

Instead what we have is a never ending game of musical chairs,players being picked performing okay for a while, then losing their form.New players are then bought in to the squad they also sing from the same Hymn sheet.Then we return to the first set of players.

How long before we see the likes of Toufiq Umar,Imran Farhat,Faisal Iqbal, and Hassan Raza being reselected.To get players to perform consistently you need to give them a consistent run.

The England squad were doing the exact same thing in the early to mid-nineties until Duncan Fletcher
Was made coach.According to Duncan Fletcher you can only Judge the worth of a player in odi format,when he has played atleast 25 games in a row.

With people already seeing Afridi as the defacto captain.How long before we have calls for Malik to be stripped of the captaincy,and Afridi to be installed as the Skipper. In my opinion very little will change until we get rid of this Ad-Hoc system.

Lala Javed.A.Khan esq. I now understand why you are getting so worked up.My dear old chap how naive of you to think, that I would impinge upon your territory. I am afterall residing in good old Blighty,thousands of miles away from Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver So my dear fellow do not get so worked up you will give yourself High blood pressure, Ulcers, diabetes and all these other stress related diseases we hear about nowadays.Dont be such an old fogey, you can try your luck with all the MidWifes in Canada for all I care or whatever else takes your fancy.

I was afraid we may have a miscommunication if I spoke in the "lot lizard mimbo".So I hope the "BrownSahib speak makes everything clear:-)So be a good sport old boy no harm done, cheerup. You should really get out more,Maybe take up Polo or, fencing,perhaps a timid felow like you would be better suited to a game of bridge at the Rotary club. stop watching those darn soap operas they are putting strange ideas in to your head. well anyway wishing you and that Midwife the best of luck:-)

A better beginning than expected OR a sad ending that wasn't expected?" Its like saying; the glass is half empty or the glass is half full. Or, I missed the train. Or, like the Arabs say: "The train went without me." These are just expressions aur vo bhi dil ko behlanay ko. Definitely a clean sweep would have raised the morale of the team even higher but for this, they shouldn't have made so many changes in the team for the 3rd ODI. Those who believe in total revamp of the team must learn from this series. First, how it affected Sri Lanka when they rested the inform Jayasuriya and Lasith Malinga and they lost that match. Secondly, how these players lost their rhythm in the 3rd match because of not playing one game, yet their presence inspired and lifted the morale of the other players. Thirdly, how adversely it affected the Pakistan team when they rested inform Shahid Afridi and Mohammad Sami. In my opinion both these players should have been in the team for the 3rd ODI.

And, I was right about the series prediction and also that Kamran Abbassi will initiate a new thread after this defeat. :-) I have already written the reasons of this defeat which I had predicted in the previous thread only after seeing the team selection and by the end of Sri Lanka's innings when they posted 296 runs on board. I knew it would be a one sided affair and thats exactly what happened.

The reason is, according to the law of averages expecting from Salman Butt to put up another man of the match innings was asking too much. I was expecting some fireworks from Shoaib Malik, Hafeez and Hameed but, not match winning performances and they did not disappoint me. Hafeez, like always, after a very good start ended his innings abruptly and this time not by playing a stupid shot, but by ending it through a suicidal run out, what a waste of an innings. And Hameed did not wait for Hafeez, he threw his wicket just like that and joined him in the pavilion a few minutes later. At that stage, Fawad Alam should have come in instead of Mohammad Yousuf. Because, the much desired youngster of the year came in to bat when there was too much pressure for any player to cope, survive and consolidate the innings especially when three top order players have gone within the space of a few overs and Fernando's inevitable ball ended up his hype. I feel sorry for the poor chap. If he is also a bowler, I wonder why he didn't get a chance to bowl? What was the point in giving Hafeez all the ten overs, why not test Alam?

Najaf Shah is so, so but I would be wrong in judging him by seeing him bowl only 10 overs and that too on a flat track. There was nothing on the placid wicket for him to prove his worth except for a few good deliveries that beat Jayasuriya. But, without any batting abilities just to be there in the ODI team purely as a bowler is not really an asset unless you are exceptionally good like Mohammad Asif is. Even Mohammad Sami, Omar Gul and even Rao Ifti can hit a few boundaries and sixes or play a support role when needed. I am not aware of how good Najaf Shah is with the bat, he scored a duck like Alam. But, was unlucky imo the ball was way outside the off stump. And, Abdul Rahman is a useless player he should not have been in the team. Shoaib Malik should have talked to him to take singles rather than allowing him to waste the balls and build up the pressure. Malik admitted that only today he came back into his batting form but, not good enough to win the match.

Fielding and running between the wickets needs attention. Until and unless the grounds in Pakistan are improved the fielding cannot improve. No player would be willing to dive to save a boundary and take risk of getting injured. Since it is not in their psyche to dive at domestic level, it won't come to them as their first nature as it is for players from other countries do and that is 'coz "the grass is greener on their grounds." I mean, the surface is not so hard. Sri Lanka and West Indies are poor nations but there is plenty of rain and the surface is not as hard as it is in India and Pakistan.

Mr. Naseem Ashraf should spent some money in building new grassy grounds in Pakistan with not so hard surface and he can do that by saving money which he so lavishly spend on his tours. Was there a need for him to be there in Abu Dhabi? Was the Sri Lankan Cricket Board Chairman there too? I am not aware of it, or is that a practice for these high ranking officials to accompany the team when the team tours abroad? Does he ever go to Faisalabad, Sialkot, Peshawar, Hyderabad or even to Karachi to see any domestic match? Has he ever thought of improving the facilities and playing conditions locally? President Mushy should also take a note of this, since he also travels to India to watch a cricket match which involves a huge amounts of money for his security set up and the other expenses that incur for his private plane etc.

Not a finish the Pakistanis may like. With all the talent and ability they have, the Pakistan team proved on numerous occassions that when the lose, the lost miserably. They palyed so well through out the series but lost the last match without any appearent fight.
Another thing that the team management must work on is that our team still depends on individual performances rather than a whole team effort (probably except the 2nd ODI) If M. Asif couldn't do his normal, the Lankans put a huge total on board. I have a feeling that just like the whole fans, the team also expect Asif (or any particular batter or bowler) to do the early damage and if he fails, the team comes into a little pressure. Malik has to work on this also.
For Malik, for a young team and for Pakistan it was a great start. Lets hope they learn from mistakes and improve their skills as professional cricketers.
On a point which Mr. Abbasi mentioned about the absence of Akhtar and Younis and Malik's controle. Shoaib though problemestic with discipline in past but in an interview i heard Malik referring him as a best friend. Younis on the other hand r efused captaincy and we saw Shahid Afridi (senior than Younis as cricketer) caused no problem for a young captain. I think their return will strengthen the Pakistan team.

Yes Pakistani team is notgoing to turn into Australia all of a sudden and win every single game. The important thing was that new players were given the opportunity to perform and display their skills. Najaf Shah looks promising but he needs more experience at the international level to truly be a decisive force. Fawad Alam was disappointing but we can't really assess his skills on one bad shot and i feel he didn't really get a chance to show us what he can do and we really haven't seen the best of him. Malik played a captains innings but it is pretty clear that Pakistan's once formidable middle order is now very vulnerable without Inzi, Younis, and a struggling M.Yousef(Largely because i think he feels he has to carry the load in the middle like Inzi did and it is too much pressure on him). As far as bowling is concerned Rao should definitely be given a place alongside Asif and Gul and Hameed seems to be in form even though he played a horrible shot to get caught out.

Malik, you are the man!

It was an excellent experience for our team and the captain as positivety flowed in the team. In this over aggressive behaviour 5 memebers of the team were changed for the third ODI the team lost the match for this reason alone, maybe a wrong strategy but the new captain is only going to learn by making some mistakes and being innovative. For the long term future some strong decisions or changes can be made in the short run to take in more players, so that replacements for every player is available in the future. So let us be patient and let the new captain and new team can get established before we sound too critical as we know that the main problems are quite apparent bad running, bad fielding and fitness problems..lets concentrate out criticism restricted to actual problems and their solutions and improvements, rather then wholly based on personalities!!

---- and it wasn't even St. Patty's Day.

To talk about team spirit and unity is fine, but it will only get you so far. Pakistan seriously lacks real talent at this time, and no matter how you polish the skills of the present lot, they are not going to sparkle. For this, we can thank our 3rd rate domestic set up.

Since Inzi emerged in 1992, we have produced only two top class batsmen. Yousuf, a natural, who only realized his true potential a few years ago, and the hard working Younus Khan. In other words, in 15 years we have produced two top class batsmen. That is pathetic!.

To compound the problem, Pakistan have not really produced anyone seriously quick and in the class of our great quicks of the past, barring Shoaib Akhtar, whose perennial fitness problems continue unabated. Asif is top class but his medium pace will suffer in conditions like those seen in Abu Dhabi, especially if there is no wicket taking quickie at the other end. On top of all this, many would like to see the back of the afore mentioned players for one reason or the other. If that ever comes to pass, we would have trouble winning a test against Bangladesh.

It appears we are heading towards a New Zealand like side, with few, if any, world class players, some bits and pieces players, many mediocrities and maybe good team spirit (how long it'll last is another matter). But we can never hope to emulate NZ's performance in the field, mainly because we lack mental and physical toughness, a brilliant captain who deserves his position in the team, and last but not least, fielding skills! We could become competitive from time to time but will never win any major tournament, just like NZ.

Team unity is important, but to excel you have to have individual brilliance and an abundance of it. That, I'm afraid, we do not have.

i dnt think pak really tried 2 win this last match considering malik didnt bowl .....also we werent @ full strength...disaapointed in the batting collapse though...styl cant count on ny opening pair.....akmal/malik r looking gud ...shud've played razzaq for more match practise....he looks terrible wid bat

I would treat the whole series with cautious optimism. Even though there were successes, the whole affair still clearly showed Pakistan's long-standing weaknesses. I would like to point out a few:

1) Inability to build on partnerships.
2) Excessive run-outs and general carelessness.
3) Fielding is still not international standard.
4) Getting freaked out after bowling one bad over.
5) Getting freaked out after losing two quick wickets.

etc.

In general, we need a lot more discipline. We have a new team which can be moulded into a formidibale force or we can let everyone go lazy and careless and keep being upset by meek teams like Ireland etc.

I just hope that Pakistan gets somebody that can polish them and bring about their best. Who will?

i think ur..right!!

Great...Wonderful...Nice....
Pakistan team has done gr8t job in Abu dabhi one day series but still there are lots more work to do...and my quesition is that why Malik and selectors didn't select AFRIDI for the third match why they rest him...I think they should have played with AFRIDI then they had chance of winning the third ODI and make a whitewash of the series...but at last I want to say Well done SHOAIB great captaincy...
Muhammad Murtaza Haqeeqat from Afghanistan

Congratulations to young Pakistan Team and the new captain on winning this series. I guess changing the combinations especially the openers did not work out for Pakistan in the last game.

Mohammad Hafeez brought the jinx of losing every game when he plays, regardless of his performance. Anyway, I think that building a good opening pair should be the top agenda for Shoaib Malik as a captain, and Nazir / Butt combination appears promising and we should persist with it for a little while before making changes. Fitness and sharp fielding are other imporatnt aspects of the game that this new team need to focus on. Our pace bowlers should be allowed some rest between the games so that burden of heavy and busy schedule should not not burn them out. So rotation should be worked out in a way that new combinations should not fail.

Kamran, you are right on. It was very very important for Pakistan to win the series ... and whatever you and others say here and elsewhere recently, about the team spirit, about other possible captains missing, about team meetings, strategizing, youthfulness all around ... this all is great, but I think the fact that this will now take Shoaib Malik as a captain from this win to the next series and those whose job is only to sit on the outskirts and critique everything will simply have to allow that. Had one of the first two games gone the other way and had SL won the series, it wouldn't in real terms have mattered much, SL is afterall a very good side, but Shoaib would have been thrashed from left right and centre for everything and THAT wouldn't have been too good ... so yes, I am like all of you pretty happy with the result ... and more so that it has laid the very first stones of foundation very solidly for the new captain. Cheers!

Finally a fresh breath of air after world cup fiasco and current political events in the country. I wish Pakistan team and Shoaib Malik all the success. Its good to see such a good team spirit on display, The only few changes which would made this team even better for future is to get rid of senior players like Yousuf , Younus and Shoaib. All of them are more suitable to longer version of game and young blood is indeed the way forward. One more thing which I would like to add in last is that the two debutants should be given more opportunities.

first post!
yeh it is kind of funny to call many members of the team young because numerically they are in thier 20s but many of them have been playing first class cricket since thier mid teens and some even have been playing international level since thier late teens. ie: afridi, razzaq, malik... etc etc.

Pakistan certainly has shown their mettle and glimpses of their mercurial nature both on and off the field.

By all accounts,a betting man would not have put his money on this Pak team beating the World cup finalists. But they did and that too twice and its testimony that this team,when together can achieve whatever it sets its mind on.

Kamran I agree, nobody expects perfection so early. However, our batting line-up did indicate very much 'Pakistan Inconsistency' where in one match we beat teams by huge margins and in the very next match we lose by equally huge margins. Malik showed good heart and fought till the end but none of the others looked like having any such plans. I guess consistency is the biggest challenge ahead of Malik and whoever is selected as the coach of Paki team.

Well summarized Kamran. The decision of going for a young team led by a young captain has to be supported regardless of how the results turn out initially. I consider this series win a cherry on top of a bold but correct decision by PCB.

No doubt about the Malik's Captaincy and a team spirit of Pakistan. The little mistake in last match was the five changes in one match, which would be the disaster if they continue like that. No doubt there are good players in Pakistan team but better to continue the first combination first b/w salman and imran. but in the end i want to say it was the great effort by youngsters and i hope to be the same and more accurate in the coming series.

Still a lot of work for the pakis to do. immense talent just need the right coach to bring out the talent locked within the youngsters.

Man, your blog sucks big time. Typical sensationalist journo stuff.

shoiab akhtar, afridi and umar gul will win pakistan back the pride they had won 15 years ago. thell defeat australia next year. im sure of it. go team pakistan

yes, a good beginning beating a under-strength SL side but as i mentioned a lot of work is required to hone their fielding and run-calling skills. what ever happened to the word "waiting" or "aa jaa" which was used a lot by previous teams when calling for quick singles. the next job is to get these guys a good coach who can improve their batting, bowling and fielding skills. the raw talent is there. Good Luck to Malik and his charges

The team played well and it was refreshing to see the enthusiasm and team spirit. however i still belive that they should have opted for shahid afridi as one day vise captain and mohammad yousaf as test vise captain. muhammad asif is a very good bowler but he is too raw to become the vise captain and that extra pressure has visibly affected his bowling. neverthless it was a good start and hopefully they will build on it. best of luck to pakistan. i would appreciate everybodys feedback on the vice captain issue.

Well done Pakistan It was a great start for the new captain and the young team. I always believed Pakistan is a better team than Sri Lanka. If Sri Lanka loses couple of their best players they become very ordinary. But Pakistan has the ability to field totally new team and still win against any opposition. Afridi is my favorite and on his day no attack is safe. Thanks for the wonderful performance.

Though it was not expected but somewhere deep insight i was hoping for this result. All went well and it was a good team effort which was really boasted with absence of Younis and Akhtar, though they on thier day can be mercurial to any team. I wish the passion, aggression and unity displayed in this Mini Tournament shall be maintained in future as well. Well Done Paki Team! We are proud of you!

The Abu Dhabi series is over,Pakistan won the series mainly because of Shahid Afridi's heroics and Partly because of Srilankan generosity as they rested Malinga and Jaisuriya in the second match, Pakistan could have made a clean sweep but they decided to return the favour by resting Afridi, Razzak,Sami, Nazir,Umar Gul,although this experiment was much needed in order to guage the true potential of the players like Najaf,Fawad and Rehman.None of these young players could capitalize on the chance given to them.
We cant say anything about Fawad as his stay on the crease lasted only one ball,I was not impressed by Najaf or Rehman,I dont think Rehman is suitable for ODI cricket,he was too erratic earlier on,and his fielding and batting were not upto International standards. Najaf Shah bowled too straight coudnt move or swing the ball he is not in the league of Asif,Sami,Gul or Rao he will have to learn to move the ball if he has to play for pakistan.
I was surprised to see that Asif was also unable to move the ball and therefore he couldnt trouble any batsmen maybe it was his off day but his poor performance allowed Srilanka to Post a huge total.
Mohammad Yousaf is completely out of form maybe he needs to be rested for One Odi series.

Kamran Sahib is one of the best optimistic along with me. It is a good idea to label the team “a better beginning than expected”. However, the series has been won by Pakistan with a margin of 2-1 but as far as the last ODI is concerned, it is a true reflection of Pakistan Team Management. This is the difference between Australia and the Sub continent team. The Aussies would have never tried so much in the last ODI. History says that they do try one or two players in a match but do you remember they have disturbed the combination by changing in wholesale. It ruins the rhythm of the players who has been performing well enough. To drop Shahid Afridi from playing eleven is ridiculous and the lack of planning going forward. It is very unfortunate that when Afridi picks up his momentum some how or the other, he is dropped. He is a great entertainer and ambassador of ODI cricket and by dropping him you are cheating with the public who just lost their zeal in the match. First ODI, he single handedly won the match for Pakistan and second ODI it was his bowling which, gave relief to Shoaib and the Pakistan to clinch the series, then why Shoaib and the Management dropped him from 3rd ODI. There is something black since he does not deserve to be dropped because he was in prime form with bat and bowl. It demoralizes the players and going forward it is a sincere advice that the Management along with the captain should not repeat mistake that the person who is performing well and is the master for your series win is being dropped.

Let us come to the point raised by Kamran Sahib that it is a good beginning. I agree with him partly not fully because they have made such a silly mistake in the 3rd ODI that it is a cancerous for building a team. There should a fixed plan and it should not be disturbed. Try youngster but not on the expense of inform players. They have to improve their running between the wickets as most of the run outs were pathetic. The selection policy is still, the area, where you need some improvement. Firstly, before selecting any players, it is the duty of the selectors to identify the talent of the players. See if he is technically correct or not then we should stick with him and give fair amount of chance to demonstrate his skill. The only grey area , in my opinion, is the lack of perfect bowling (Fast/Medium) all rounder. If you are able to search and fill the gap of Abdul Razzaq, this team will be awesome since ODI is all about all rounder. To sum up this series, we can say, Shoaib has gained something but still he has a lot to prove.

Congratulations Pakistan! We are glad to see the up and coming youngster doing well but we condemn the attitude of Mohamed Asif he may intimidate with his bowling but not with his abuses and intimidations on batsmen facing him. It was dirty and very ugly to see him dragging a cool Mahela for a an unwanted confrontation. Let him take a lesson from the Pakistani greats of the past, like Wasim, Waqar and Imran and so on....He is already nicknamed as a 'drug cheat'. He has a good future let him not ruin it by his ungentlemanly behaviour in this gentlema's game.

I m pleased with the way shoaib fought till the end...i wish him best of luck 4 future

a wonderful new begning .

you and your freak optimism.

Lets Hope For The Best And We Should Support Our Team In All Situation

it was not a tough series,v cant say malik is a good captain on the basis of this series.he is on the place of inzi and he has to show that he is capable for inzi's place

The 3rd ODI will bring the flying fans back on earth. Considering the fact that Sri Lanka were runners up in the last world cup, many of us thought we're the best or second best after beating the SAME NAMED team in first 2 ODI, forgetting this team is only 2nd half of the original team. The targetting and then thrashing of Asif yesterday will teach the young inexperienced and immensely talented bowler the pressure of staring at quality batsmen.

By resting Afridi in the 3rd match, it was clear that Pakistan were ready for a defeat. Afridi is now a so important player for the ODI team which was somewhat obvious in the last world cup and South Africa tour. It's a very good sign to see him taking such an iconic role on the field. Looking at the roles of Malik and Afridi on the field, I hope no conflict/competition arise between them in later times. No idea why Asif was chosen as the vice-captain. It shows the PCB is still not thinking.

Mr. Abbasi is an emotional writer. He just can't see many facts under emotion. The way he criticizes Inzi's captaincy, I wonder why he was let to captain the team for those many years. Or is it that Inzi forgot everything of captaincy only in the world cup? And Team Pakistan? A long way to go to welcome them yet.

YES, the begining is good.DEFEATING SRIANKA even without their strike bowler is not an easy joke.Pak. team deserves all the credit for the victory.Victory appears more sweeter for pakistani fans when viewed from the backdrop of WC debacle.As you rightly said malik would have felt more comfortable in the absence of younis khan & shoab akhtar.He should be allowed some more time to settle down & the people as well as the PCB SHOULD BE PATIENT.GOOD LUCK SHOAB MALIK.

nothing will happen its all foolish things , they are just playing with pakistan.... and dont be optimistic abt that once they will go to abroad they will be equal to zimbabwe........

Not a bad series. Should raise player confidence and team morale. I understand the appointment of malik to lead but i feel for afridi aswell. The guy should atleast be Vc, I mean cmon asif cant lead in absence of malik, say in test matches or if malik is ever injured. But afridi can, maybe even better than malik. Shahid is a good motivator in the team and a lil bit of responsibility can help bring out the better of both his performance and leadership. After all he does contribute to pakistans wins. A few things about mailk is hes not placing slips n it shows hes not all out attacking his opponents, second he was unable to prevent singles in later overs, i know its too soon to point these small things but a look at the few months ahead n you know you cant afford to be late. But still pakistan have done good, if lankans were missin a few key players so were we missin akhtar younis and inzi. Apart from 3 seniors we were playing a much younger side then they were. We won it like we use to back in the days and it feels awesome.

I think it was a good chance in the 3rd ODI to give chance to the new and younger players because the series was already won. And Pakistan did so.Now the combination of TEAM PAKISTAN has been made under Shaoaib Malik. All the players wand to do something for their country, most of them are young blood and all are very committed individuals. When Younis will come back this team will be much stronger because Younas is the type of guy who enjoys his game and there is alot of sincerity in Younis with his game and also the team mates. Inshallah Pakistan will do better in the future against all the teams. I wish them best of luck. GOOD LUCK "TEAM PAKISTAN"

Dear Kamran ,, a better begining than expected but I would say it , " A Fluke begining and much the same as highly expected YOYOs display " . The series win was not a win they got by their any thing action but it was gifted to them by a depleted , exhausted and not focused SriLankan players . Once they same depleted side got to work for the last hurrah , the result is anf should be an eye opener for so so CALLED Wishfull Thinking of the 11 YoYos led by the same old thinking and the plans . The Way they folded & could not complete even 50 overs , says a lot about " WE HAVE BEEN THERE BEFORE " ..... The stardom went into the Head of VCAP , as you sow so shall you reap have been said long long time ago but it still hold goods for the PCB . Now his career and his behavioure is under scrutiny for the next 12 months and you can see the pressure of being under focused for just one day , how he leaked the runs in his first spell and it is mind bogling to watch , CAP throwing the ball to him over after over seeing what he had done in the first 2 overs ( poor Captaincy is an under statement in this regards ) . The career of this talented young man has been hanged out to dry even before it really got started fully ... Thanks to mindlessness of the PCB and the selectors ...

Asalaam Alaykum

I am little disappointed with the final game, it showed a spot which pakistan need to fix going from 61-1 to 70-6, which all but ended the challange. However overall i think pakistan cricket has a bright future and so to does shoaib malik.

One thing i cannot understand is why fawad alam dubbed "the best allrounder in domestic season" wasnt given an over, but i guess shoaib has his reasons.

Anyways Good luck Pakistan.

Very true Kamran, I agree with your comments. And yes the clean sweep would surely have been an unimaginable result but the 'boys' did a good job overall beating the World Cup finalists. Something to ponder on...would the return of Younis Khan change the way the team reacts? Or would a Shoaib Akhtar return create ripples once again?

Pakistan middle order looked more stronger without Younis.

Pakistani bowling lacked that venom without Akhtar.

If Pakistan would have played their first match team, we could've whitewashed Sri Lanka.

All in all, a great beginning for the Pakistani Cricket after the dismal world cup.

Oh...puhleez...nothing is right with Pakistan cricket.lets not be gung-ho about such performances..a series win over tired/overworked/flat world cup finalists that too with a lot of luck.

My point is everyones talking about so much talent so much, i think we are in denial..if there is talent it does somehow beat the system and come to the forefront and we havent had a half decent batsmen in over a decade. Pakistan team cant put up a decent fight without Shahid Afridi, then why have Shoaib Malik as captain who will be upstaged/replaced by Afridi if it continues to happen. The dimwits they are cant even run between the wickets properly, they are just a bunch of overpaid perennial under achievers who specialize in letting themselves down.

Sadly Kamran I think you're deluding yourself. The 'Team' has barely been together for a couple of weeks and already fractions are appearing. It was obvious from his body language that Abdur Razzaq is not a happy bunny. This was plain to see in his performances and body language in the first 2 one-dayers. Losing Razzaq will be a massive blow to the Pakistan 1-day team as he has endless times in the past guided them home from perilous positions.

Then there was Mohammed Yusuf also not looking too happy....and these 2 are supposedly the milder of the senior players. Can you imagine Shoiab or Younis playing under Malik and what their reaction would be? Team Pakistan? I don't think so. More likely a return the murky Wasim-Waqar or Javaid-Imran-Safraz power-hungry eras'. There is more in-fighting and back-stabbing to come in this team and don't for a moment think Pakistan are back!! This might sound pessimistic but as you will see it will happen to be correct in the end.

Good start. Better than expected.

Thanks Allah there is some good news for pakistan cricket.As a big fan I,cant explain how frustrating last two months were.shoaib malik has a good cricketing brain and he is a very good choice for captain.It was good see pakistan team full of energy hopefully they can continue like this.asif as a vice captain is really a bad chice guy is new to cricket and he has been under emmence pressure for all that doping scandle.all the best wishes to pakistan team

you are absolutely right kamran, it was really unexpected, beating world cup finalist is not a easy task, although srilanka didnt had their main bowlers playing but in card its not written who played and who didnt, the bottom line will be the new pakistan team beat srilanka in a series, malik is certainely a good captain, he showed in this series that he learns from his mistakes, in the first match afridi's performance was good, but the catches he dropped showed that he want to let down his captain, even in the second match in award cermony shoaib named afridi as a motivational catalyst, i think its all because malik knew that afridi want to be contender for captaincy as every one know that according to pcb statement every captain's performance is based on series performance. but i think all the team senior as well as junior players should support him, malik will certainely bring laurals to the country, good luck team pakistan.
Jafri

Alhamdolillah we came back from disatrous World Cup to beat the World cup finalist in a three match series under new captain and without a coach.
All credit to the selectors, captain, team management and team members for this excellent performance. A note of caution that we must learn from every game whether we win or loose as the learning process goes on. Pakistan being a Muslim country has clear guidelines about the learning process as Prophet (PBUH)has mentioned that learning process starts from the cradle and end up at death bed. So whole lif is for learning whether it is a game or any other matter. No one can claim that he he is perfact and has nothing to learn. We learn from elders, seniors, friend, foes and from children. History provide us lessons for the future, so that we do not make the same mistake intentionaly.
Kamran you are right that expectations were not high but they have performed well in their first test and specially our new captain who has given good account of himself in all the three matches with wisdom,consultation and when the chips were down he played a captain's innings in the last match.That is what is expected from a captain to lead the team from the front, but still he has to learn and with experience from international exposure inshallah he will improve. It was good to give chance to the other players in the squad once the team has won the series. Fuad Alam needs encouragement as this is game of cricket and it happens that you failed in your first outing but do not loose heart but learn from the first ball he received, a slower ball from the medium fast bowler, unexpected delivery but professional bowlers exploit the situation with variation according to the situation. So always be ready to expect anything and inshallah you will learn from experience.
Shahid Afridi Allah (SWT) has given special potential to you, but keep a cool head and work hard in all deprtments of the game, batting, bowling, fielding and discipline and inshallh you will provide the best of the entertainment which a cricket match could provide the cricket loving fans. Hard work, character and discipline is the message which Islam teaches to the mankind, so keep learning and practice the principle of Islam and you will become a better player.
We need to built our junior teams right from schools and colleges, so that we have a good bentch strength, to replace any one from the senior team. It will provide competition to all the players, so they will work hard to keep their place in the team.
I would like to take this opportunity to congatulate the Nation on this success and inshallah we will have many more successes if we keep on working hard, be honest to our work whether in the selection committee or just a player or captain.

Lets not forget it was a very very weak Sri Lankan team. I mean without Murli , Vaas and Sangakkara it was always going to be easier for the opposition.

Lets hope the big guns of Pakistan are also available for coming games , and all the best to Malik and Pakistan Team in Future.

CD - NAA>

Keep going Pakistan Team....best of luck

Your key player must play for white wash. Why not shahid Afridi played 3rd one day?. Try to add two or three new faces for some exeriment but why add five new faces in only one game. Should Australia change in one game five face from his winning combination.

Malik is good choice Afridi is one of the best allrounders

Well Done Pakis.... You too played with a young side. Apart from Ausis, all other teams win only on their given days... luck.. counts a lot... Imagine if SriLanka had a fluke win in the world cup finals.. what a shame coming again and loosing to a young pakistani side... Only the Ausis can maintain the status as world champions... Not ANY OTHER team in the world.

trevelyan777@hotmail.com

an important start for a new era.but i think younis khan's arrival would not disturb malik for any reason.no doubt younis is a team man. in fact his presence could help malik in the middle as he has the experience of captainig this pak side before.shoaib no doubt is a question mark,but a match winner for sure.so the challenge for malik would be to handle shoaib.the nex step should be to find a good coach.

Shoaib Malik has shown a good head and he has the making of a great captain if not influenced alot by the so called seniors. The Pakistan team has undergone overhaul which was pleasant in the eyes of the fans. Let us all support this team. It has potential to challenge the best. My main worry is how this team would play on moving wickets. Lets not judge them on flat wickets.

An under strength SL side comfortably beat this bunch of no-hopers...false dawn again! Pakistan nneed to be able to win without the drug cheats... we will see if anything fundamental has changed

While this has been a good start to Pakistan, it is too early to conclude or predict anything. I am a Sri Lankan fan but I like Shoaib Malik - he has impressed with his skills as a player and does have the ability to be a great ODI player. However, as for captaincy, with support from his team and time, he would do well but being Pakistan, neither of them can be taken for granted.

Great job Team Pakistan. I think the new spirit in this young team will definately put some pressure on the senior players whether they can keep pace with these youngsters. I am perticularly pointing to Yousuf, he must understand where does he stand in this new Pakistan ODI team.

The result of the series was in our favour and more positives can be drawn of it. So, this is the time to be optimistic, to enjoy, to celebrate and to hope.

But, it is imperative that we establish a new culture of improving from our victories. We should analyze and accept our mistakes and look for ways to alleviate them. Hence, apart from the rewards, the board should also give the captain and his colleagues a hard time about the abundance of run outs, Opening bowlers going at a fortune per over and the obvious underutilization of the bowling resources at hand.

Was the final one result fixed?

When was the last time Pakistan clean swept a series? Suspicious I think!

Hi All,

I totally agree with you that a new begining has begun for Pakistan under Malik. He did make mistakes but i hope he will learn what mistakes he has made in the begining of his innings as captain rather than later. I also strongly believe that Shahid Afridi should be made as vice captain though he has performed against a weaker opposition.

Yes rightly said kamran, I would like shoaib Malik and the board to work on following things in the team.

1)Self Belief
2)Tell each player that you have to own your game.
3)Communication Skills
4)Planning . i.e whenever they play a game they should have 2-3 plans so that if one plan fails they should have alternatives to win the match instead of giving up.
5) Try to improve the Infra-Structure.

I hope my comments will help,

Regards.

well, to be honest no inference can be made confidently...but they palyed well as a unit and showed good spirit, some remarks,

give an extended run to guys like F.Alam and N Shah...
there's no place for hafeez,razzaq if they don't perform consistently... 1:10 ratio of good matches is simply not acceptable..

team Pakistan is more important than younis ,inzi or Shoaib akhter or any other individual!

thanks Dr. abbasi...

No doubt, nice beginning for Shoaib Malik and the pakistan cricket team. But there is a space of improvement for sure especially the fielding and running between the wickets. But there is ample time to correct that(May to Sept). But for now its time to celebrate a much awaited series win.

Good luck to pak team for the future.

Usman.

I think pakistan did well.I felt this was tired seies for them bcoz when they start this series they had lot of cricket.during the world cup of we were superb.we played fantastic cricket.They were very tiered that is the reson to lost this series and becoz of this they culdnt play up to their standed.Any way they will do well once they have enough rest.Good to see pakistan play well after some time. Their future is good. beco they have good young players who are with some lot of talent.

I was delighted to hear shoaib malik at the presentation ceremony last night, ackowledging that works needs to be done, but accepting a bit of credit for the performance as well. I have high hopes for this unit - as does every other Pakistani nut like myself. I hope things continue to go our way for many a year under the new captain and vice captain! I was also happy to see Butt, Nazir, Akmal, Malik and Hameed score their half centuries - but disappointed with mohd yousaf (not bc i expect him to have an amazing innings each time he goes to bat, but at the lack of 'jaazba') We are a passionate country, esp about our cricket - haha i mean we go on to the street with burning effigies of losing players/captains (common to us, but unheard of in this part of the world!) Long Live Team Pakistan!

For once I agree with you, Kamran, about the performance of our team (its also one of the rare occasions that you have written something positive about the Pakistan team).
These guys (team + management) are showing a lot of good changes. The best is the agression and commitment they seem to have. I also like the fact that they tried out so many new faces in the last ODI. It shows at least someone out there is adopting a new approach to things. Najaf Shah wasnt bad at all by the way, and Rao was great!
I'm not expecting miracles from our guys, but I do find them entertaining to watch again. They give it their best and they genuinely seem to be excited to be on the field.

Heres hoping for the best!

Well Done Malik! We are, The Sialkotians, proud of you. Pak team, carry on...

I just wonder why oh why do Pakistan love self - capitulation. 5 wickets for 9 runs yesterday... I am worried about mental strength of the batting line up.
... but the positives: I like the look Najaf and Imran Nazir is developing as is Sami. Let's get cracking on that fielding and we will concede 30 less runs.

I would like to congratulate Pakistan cricket team and Shoaib Malik for putting up such a good performance in this short ODI against one of the best ODI teams. Fair enough SL was missing 3 of their key players but one shouldn't forget Pakistan was also without the services of Younis Khan and Shoaib Akhtar.
Mr. Abbassi as you said earlier there's still a lot to be desired in the team and hopefully with the help of a "good coach" all these minor issues would be resolved quickly. I think Pakistan experimented a bit too much in the last game with resting/dropping 4/5 players and bringing youngsters in but then I guess they could afford to do that.
Let's hope the ***Unity*** which we saw in this series in the team should continue for years to come.

Hats off to Afridi for providing us entertainment.
Well ... Pakistan still need a opener, salman butt is not upto standard. My granny can play better than him. Hafeez is not far away from salman butt& and please please please donot bring Tofeeq Umar back. Yasir Hamid needs to improve & yousaf is totally out of form!!! Do we have any body who can play or we will keep playing marry go round with present lot. Asif was disappointment, he haa to have extra yard or two in pace to be as lethal as likes of McGrah or Pollack. Najaf Shah must be coached, he looks promising, rest of bowlers are there just to fill the open vacancies. Where are our spinners? Present lot just tosses the ball up & prays it will hit right spot & some magical wand will turn it.
Is this Young team??? I am confused here. These guys has been arround when I was kid & I have my own kids now. Or they have got birth certificates from Meo Hospital stating their ages. or they hav ebeen recently RE-SELECTED!!!! For God sake stop fooling yourself & select Cricketers not Morons!

I dont really like the way Malik is captaining Pakistan, in the sense that he is not switching his bowlers that much, in all the matches, he makes bowler ball longer spells and despite the fact that there are more than 5 bowlers (or part timers) in the team, he uses only 5 bowlers to complete the quota of 50 (10 each) whether any of them are going through good beating or not.. He should switch his bowlers so that the batsman do not get settled so easily by playing two bowlers on different ends for longer spells. Also it was cried all the time that Inzamam did not lead from front and used to bat way down the order, why are those cries burried now ? why shoaib malik bats so low down the order ? he himself should come at no. 3 to make a platform for the others, he should lead from front.. anyways it has started good so far.. lets hope for the best..

I think winning is an attitude and Pakistan lack this. I don't understand why we need to change the winning combination if we are winning. Certainly I don't mind 1-2 changes if you have won the series, but changing the whole combination is not justified. The team needs to build its morale and it can only be achieved by regular wins. Anyway it was good to see the team back on the winning track.

Congratulations to young Shoaib and Team Pakistan, but let's not get carried away. It's the consistency in performances from 'Team Pakistan' that Pakistan fans crave for and not the odd flash in the pan- powered by individual brilliance alone, here and there!
In order to win consistently,momentum is everything and so five changes to the team was not a sensible thing to do, even though the series was already won.For example, Yousuf could have been rested instead of Afridi.If Fawad Alam was included to fulfill Afrid's role, why didn't he get a bowl-even when Asif was having an uncharacteristic nightmare of a day? Planning, strategy and execution was poor in the final match.
Having said all that, i agree that it was a good begining..........much tougher tests lie ahead for young Shoaib and Team Pakistan.........Good Luck!

I'm not sure of this result. Any matches played in the middle east are always tainted with suspicion of fixing.

Kamran,
Could you elaborate on some specific mistakes you think Shoaib made during the last match? I'm intrested in your take at a more detailed level.

Thanks

Pakistan performed really well, though they lost the final match but they also gave chance to new guys to have some match experience. Shoaib's captaincy needs some polishing and some experience as well and it should be team effort not one man man show to win matches.

Too early to comment, Mr Abbasi, but Malik does look to the the right kind of person to lead Pakistan, they just need someone who is commited to the job and applies his mind rather than a player with lots of raw talent, the kind Pakistan has in abundance.

I don't understand how you can still call Younis Khan a captain in the wings - he was Inzy's deputy for more than a year but refused to take responsibility when it mattered. I would NEVER name him even a vice captain in future. As for Shoaib, pray that he plays atleast 3 tests and 5 ODIs in an year. Captaincy can wait.

Well said Kamran, I'm sure with time this team & their new captain will get better & better.

Masood

The team needs to focus on each game and try to gather a winning momentum. Each and every game is there to be won. So many changes in one game unsettled the team. At this point when we are still building a team and individual roles are being defined and discovered such sweeping changes can hurt the momentum. I am not against giving youngsters a chance but it should be done more judiciously and intelligently. Additionally, it would be better if the youngsters coming in play as a part of tightly knit winning combination rather than in a secondary insignificant squad playing a meaningless game.
In the second half of the game there was a lot of inconsistent bounce in the pitch which made batting very difficult.

Srilanka won the last match, and some sanity was restored,cuz rightly said..a series clean sweep was unimaginable and also migth have put malik on a high horse (evn though that seems far from reality since the kid seems quiet humble).
That said, a series win it is, none the less! so good going boys.
Najaf i think did quiet well evn though his numbers dont reflect that, but i feel, a lil more confidence and much more regular games (at the absolute once and for all expense of Abdul Razzaq)
will bring out a lot of match winning performances from this youngster.
Unfortunately, Fawad Alam did not avail the oppertunity(in part i think its cuz of the tremendous amount of pressure put on him). But still, he deserves a longer run with the amount of promise he has shown to get selected.

All in all..a good weeks work..but Malik..im sure you know you got a lot to learn..everybody makes mistakes..only the winners learn from them!

Considering we had a young squad, I think we did quite well to beat a good Sri Lanka side, I just hope we can build on this and move forward... We have the talent, just need direction...

wow the begining of malik is great i loved it may allah help them success in all of their matches in cricket. Now the most important thing he has to work on is to get good opening partnership. i still do not understand why umargul imran najir and shahid afridi did not play on the 3rd ODI???. i am a supporter of pakistan team. why is shoaib aktar still injured and why pakistan team is always injured???? even a soccer player doesnot ger much injured as pak cricket player does where as in soccer u have to work 10 times harder than cricket. i also would like to know why did pak did so bad on the last ODI is it because they had too much pride?? or is it because they didnt care?? in my opinion pak should of have 3-0 victory because the srilankan team did not have some of their main player.how come the first 2 ODI they did so well and on the last one they couldnot even go close to win?????????????.so anyway good luck to pakistan team. wish all the best for them and lastly may allah help the pakistan team and the players

The most important thing was to find openers, he's got 2 kids with the talent and ability to play and he and the management have to persist with Butt and Nazir and ensure they become consistent performers.

what a series win boys, younis khan should stil play however he would add further strengh to the batting, salman butt has proved his worth i belve and should play instead of hafeez. what is going on with shoaib tho! we need him back in the team fired up ready to take wickets, the seamers have been hit this series by the sri lankans, they need some encouragement by a premier fast bowler

yes i agree that pak team has started well enough and all take heart from this performance.but in last matches we made too many mistakes.first of all too many new players were given chances, specially there was no need to exp with the openers when they seemed to settle well together.and then bowling and fielding was horrible. which means there so much to be done within this team. i did understand why malik did bowl himslef or with fawad alam .personally i dont think we hafeez in odi team specially in the presence of malik as bowler ,afridi and razzaq ,to me the reason why we play well on 2 odi was becoz we play with lots of specialist players which give stability to the team, all in all good start to maliks era and things will improve when younis and akhtar will join this team.
wishing best of luck to pak team
well done

I think this is a wildly optimistic blog..Sri Lanka looked completely flat in this tournament, as they would after the World Cup and the pitches were completely flat too - the World Cup rudely showed us how our techniques are majorly flawed on sporting tracks. Barring Shahid Afridi's heroics (and 2 dropped catches) in the first match it was an even contest, and the second match only really had tharanga, chamara silva and jayawardena batting for the lankans so it's hardly an achievement either. The manner in which Pakistan collapsed in the third was all too familiar. I think Shoaib Malik has potential but how he deals with Mohammad Yousuf, Younis Khan, and Shoaib Akhtar will take time to assess. The changes in Pakistan's international competitiveness will only come from grass-root changes which, yet again, will be glossed over and blogs like this will suggest the team is on track to becoming world beaters.

It was a fantastic start .well done malik.But it would be more effective if the captain is given more power in the selection and the team decisions.And y. khan has done a great mistake of his life by not leading this talented side

No doubt an excellent start with a series win, and a win against the finalists of the recent world cup. Well done to captain Mailk, and the team. Ofcourse this is just the beginning, and there is alot of hard work to come.

Dont get exceite too early.. wait for couple of losses.. then lets see wat the reaction is

DREAM ON Kamran.....!

Only the test of time will tell the true story.

I disagree that this performance was not expected from them. On slow tracks Pakistan is a very difficult to beat even without their superstars. But i bet this team can't make 200+ runs on bouncy tracks and against better opposition. Beleive me this series counts for none. In order to suceed regurarly PCB should prepare green bouncy tracks at home. Except 2 or may be three batsmen, nobody in team is capable of delivering things in alian conditions.

Moreover, please don't spoil the young talented palyers. Why Fawad Alam was not allowed to bowl; what positive has been taken out by bowling M.Hafeez for 10 overs. Why M.Asif has been put under so much preassure by repeatedly saying that he is team's main bowler and giving him vice captaincy so early. He should be given chance to further hone his skills. Mohammad Yousaf was not playing with the same intensity as last year; maybe capatancy thing is still going on in his mind.

what happened to Asif? does he need to learn to bowl faster? rao iftikar is the right handed wasim akram lol. yeah i guess its a good start, but what worries me is that, because pakistan team were so bad recently, that their odds in betting were already so low, but if they do throw a game they would hardly win any money, but if they do really well in future, and become favourates against their opposition, then they might be tempted to throw a game :(

Congrats to Pakistan! I think they played as a team. I felt bad for Fawad Alam. He deserved a much better debut. I hope this one outing doesn't put a damper on his career.

yeh maaaaaaaaaaaaaaan

Ya...I think Shoaib Malik captained as perfectly as possible. I am sure Pakistan will do well if he leads his team with great spirit.

There is no harm loosing the final game but the batsmen again proved the are very unpredictable. And few unreliable as well, like Mohammad Hafeez, he has already got enough chance to prove himself worthy. Malik needs to be very clear in what players he gonna rely on to win games for him....

This was all team work. The younsters are proving that they still have a lot of juice left

no dboubt about that.
but believe its almost same team with just one or two changes. the boys have good experience. they are working hard, and i am impressed by Rao Iftikhar's bowling he is consistent. he has often proves his skill.... but can anyone tell what was wrong with asif yesterday?

Sri Lanka is low key tournaments to bring their young talents up rather than trying to win every tournament. Even with the inexperienced players in the team, they can win matches when they turn on their magic.

Ciongratulations to Malik and Pakistan. The young cricket team will soon be a formidable combination. However I must say that Asif's attitude has to be checked now. When he gets a wicket he makes rude gestures. He is lathargic in the field. He tried so intimidate the batsman by his gestures and remarks. For a young man it is simply not acceptable. He has a long way to go. He should let his bowling speak. After getting a wicket he should shift his attention how to get another rather than involve in verbal abuse.

I think both Younis Khan and Shoaib Akhtar belong to an old guard who play for themselves and overall have a disruptive influence on team unity and spirit. Pakistan would not have won this series if Younis was onboard.

Let them stay where they are and Pakistan should start from scratch in a sense (its not as if they are over enthusiactic about playing for Pakistan)

I think Pakistan team has done. Clean sweep was a good dream to have, even 2-0 win is excellent against WC runner up. My comment is about the captain. One of the problem Pakistan has had (be it politics or othersise) leaders in the wing. I think Younis had opportunity he withdrew. And shoaib would have been worst captain (at least I believe). A captain has been appointed, he has the will and power to lead, everyone else should just accept it. It will be very bad to have captain's in waiting. I also think Shoaib M should be captain at least until next WC.

the criticism has already started of the captain,

It was good series to win. All the boys put their 100%. It was good to see all the senior players helping as well as supporting the new captain.

But I'm touch disappointed with Shoib Malik's Captaincy. He will have to do lot of hard work to be able to compete with bigger and stronger teams. I think he needs to think of his bowling options when he fields. I'm really surprised they way he stick to only five bowling options during the whole series even though he had some other bowling options when few bowlers were having heavy beatings.

I was quite keen to see Fawad Alam as an allrounder. He did get the chance to bat and unfortunately he failed but malik should have used and tried him as a bowler as well.

As the series concluded there is enough optimism about the expected glory days lying ahead as noted by Kamran Abbasi that they have performed better than expected and defeated the W/C finalists. Its a happy start but it should not be forgotton that they s