Afridi given another chance to prove his worth

Afridi given another chance to prove his worth 

Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has been recalled into the national ODI side for the series in South Africa. Afridi was dropped from the ODI format for the tour of India after a string of below par performances, but has been drafted back into the squad for his ability with the ball. 

According to Pakistan's chief selector Iqbal Qasim said that this will be Afridi's last chance so his future hangs in a tide.

"The South Africa tour is his last (chance) and he has to perform. It's five ODIs and you need variety in your bowling. Based on his quality of right-arm legspin bowling, we have selected him," said Qasim. 

Afridi recently led Pakistan 'A' in a one-day series against Afghanistan and seems to have done enough to make the selectors recall him into the national side. 

"I am not saying you have to play him (Afridi) in the 11, my mind says we have to have some variety (in bowling). They (South Africans) are playing good against fast bowlers and we have seen if you have variety of spinners, it will give you benefit." said Qasim, explaining Afridi's selection. 

The selectors have also included former captain Shoaib Malik, wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal and his brother Umar in both the ODI and T20 squads. Sohail Tanvir made way for Wahab Riaz in the only change from the India series in the T20 squad. 

Misbah-ul Haq will lead the team in the one-day matches in Bloemfontein (March 10), Centurion (March 15), Johannesburg (March 17), Durban (March 21) and Benoni (March 24). 

Opener Mohammad Hafeez will lead the team in the two Twenty20 matches to be played in Durban on March 1 and in Centurion on March 3. 

"Pakistan's recent one-day showings are good as they have beaten India in India," said Qasim of Pakistan's 2-1 victory in India in January. "I hope they improve their performance from the Tests." 

Squads: 

T20: Mohammad Hafeez (captain), Nasir Jamshed, Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal, Shahid Afridi, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Irfan, Wahab Riaz, Umar Akmal, Umar Gul, Ahmed Shahzad, Umar Amin, Zulfiqar Babar, Asad Ali, Junaid Khan 

ODI: Misbah-ul Haq (captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Imran Farhat, Nasir Jamshed, Kamran Akmal, Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, Asad Shafiq, Younis Khan, Saeed Ajmal, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz, Abdul Rehman, Mohammad Irfan, Junaid Khan 

England in New Zealand 2013 tour preview

Hot on the heels of ODI victory over India in Dharamsala on Sunday, the England squad, at least the T20 faction, has landed in New Zealand for what looks a beautifully balanced tour.

Ross Taylor should return to the New Zealand squad for England's visit

Can three formats of the same sport co-exist? With three T20s, three ODIs and three Tests, there is a good spread of cricket on offer. It also feels right that the Tests will be final act of the tour, rather than an h’orderve for the shorter formats.

The only problem is, by New Zealand coach Mike Hesson’s own admission, the Kiwis are some way short of the standard required to compete in the Test arena.

South Africa were beaten 2-1 in the recent ODI series against New Zealand, but in the preceding Test series New Zealand were humiliated. Their batsmen were completely obliterated in both Tests by South Africa’s bowling attack.

Having watched Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander/Rory Kleinveldt tear through a brittle top and middle order, James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Steven Finn will be licking their lips.

It’s not much of stretch to predict an England Test series win, although the return of Ross Taylor and Jesse Ryder will make New Zealand more competitive. That’s assuming all of the in-fighting and embarrassing confrontations can be avoided…

The limited overs leg of the tour promises to be far more even. New Zealand’s ODI series win in South Africa was hugely impressive, especially as they’d been laid out cold in the Tests.

England won’t be too disappointed with the 3-2 ODI series defeat in India, but the batting collapses of the second and third fixtures need to be avoided. Graham Thorpe has been appointed as ODI batting coach beneath new ODI head coach Ashley Giles and their first task will be to ensure such calamities are avoided.

Ones to watch

The New Zealand squads are yet to be announced, but the Ross Taylor situation will be fascinating. He was ousted as captain following a rare Test win in Sri Lanka as Hesson and new skipper Brendan McCullum seemingly rounded on him. He must have, in some small way, drawn pleasure from the side’s panic stricken and confused performances against South Africa.

His reintegration (not to be used solely in regards to Kevin Pietersen) into the squad will make or break the Kiwis. He’s New Zealand’s star batsmen and they need him. Does he need them, though?

For England, a lot of pressure has now been placed upon Jos Buttler. Somerset’s part time wicketkeeper is, for now, England’s full time limited overs keeper. With Craig Kieswetter being given plenty of time to prove that he’s not up to the job, at least with bat in hand, England’s search for Adam Gilchrist continues.

Many have tried and many have failed. The first port of call should be finalising where in the order the keeper will bat. The opener experiment has been ditched (thank God!) so where in the middle order will Buttler feature? There’s a lot of pressure on the youngster as Jonny Bairstow, Yorkshire’s part time keeper, is waiting in the wings for another shot. The situation is a bit of a mess and needs sorting. Maybe, one day, a full time out and out keeper will be selected for the role.

By Miles Reucroft

Five ways for Pakistan to make history

For the first time in the post Wasim and Waqar era, Pakistan fans are genuinely confident of their team’s chances in South Africa, though it still sounds more optimistic than realistic. South Africa outplayed both England and Australia recently and even a drawn Test series for Pakistan will be celebrated like a victory.

However, in order to win or draw against the Proteas, Pakistan will not only have to use their skills well but also hope for a bit of luck too! Here are the five things that Pakistan need to win in South Africa.

Picking the right team

For years Pakistan has given the edge to the opposition even before a ball is bowled by not picking the best 11 on merit. The perfect example of this was in Port Elizebath in 1998 when after going one up in the three Test match series they picked Moin Khan as a specialist batsman in order to accommodate captain Rashid Latif. The result wasn’t surprising as they ended up losing by a big margin.

The selectors have done a good job by picking a balanced side for this tour (excluding the inclusion of Faisal Iqbal) so now it’s on to Misbah-ul-Haq and the team management to play the best XI. Taufiq Umar’s timely injury allowed Nasir Jamshed to play in the tour opener where he scored two half centuries, so he should be given a chance ahead of Taufiq who has struggled in domestic cricket recently.

The other question would be whether to play Mohammad Irfan as a third seamer. The inclusion of Rahat Ali and Tanvir Ahmed has bolstered the bowling options but Irfan will surely be a better bet for the first Test at the Wanderers.

Aggressive attitude

I recently read an article by former Pakistan pace bowler Muhammad Zahid who wanted the fast bowlers to show aggression to the Proteas batsman. Not only the bowlers need that aggression but also the batsmen. There is a thin line between aggression and madness which most Pakistani batsman usually fail to understand.

Pakistan’s strike rate in the recently concluded four day tour game was below 50 as none of the top six batsman, excluding Mohammad Hafeez, showed any signs of scoring runs, which resulted in two middle order collapses. Misbah and his men need to come out of this hit and block policy and look for run scoring opportunities if they are to challenge Graeme Smith’s men.

Rotation policy by Proteas

Pakistan team management and their fans would hope for Gary Kirsten to take Micky Arthur’s idea of rotating his main fast bowlers during a Test series. Though it looks highly unlikely that South Africa’s seamers will be rested, that’s the only way they can provide some respite to a fragile Pakistan batting unit which will struggle against Vernon Philander’s movement and Morne Morkel’s extra bounce.

Inclusion of Imran Tahir

Robin Peterson has come a long way since he was hammered by Brian Lara, but he still isn’t a Test quality spinner. He could improve his stats during the series, though, since Pakistan have a habit of making ordinary spinners look like Shane Warne.

Nathan Haurtitz and Rangana Herath are two examples in the recent past. Peterson’s hand injury has meant that Tahir is in the squad, and the Pakistani team will hope for him to play against his country of birth and that he bowls just as he did in Adelaide! This may well the missing puzzle between losing the series or winning/drawing.

Catching and use of DRS

Last but not the least, the Pakistani fielding and correct use of DRS could prove yet again the difference between winning and losing. In England in 2010, the Pakistani bowlers had to get 30 English wickets due to poor catching from their team mates. Unfortunately for South Africa, there is no Kamran Akmal, but if others continue to be generous, as they have always been in the past, then Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis will ensure that the historic series win that the Pakistani fans are hoping for will be over before we reach Centurian for the third Test.