Pakistan squad for England Tests: Malik Out; Wahab, Umar In
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced Monday a 16-man squad for the upcoming Test series against the world number one Test team England to be played in United Arab Emirates.
Shoaib Malik, who has failed to cement his place after several chances, has been sent out of the fold to go back into the domestic cricket and find his touch again, while the surprise inclusion was left-arm fast bowler Wahab Riaz, who has been reportedly sidelined by the PCB previously on the instructions by the International Cricket Council.
The best part of the team selection was return of aggressive middle-order batsman Umar Akmal who has made his way into the Test team for his ability to change the game on his head.
The first Test match of the three-match series will start from January 17, 2011 at Dubai where team management including captain Misbah-ul-Haq and coach Mohsin Hasan Khan have this sweet problem of picking the right eleven against the mighty England who had a successful year.
In fact, both Pakistan and England were the two top performers in the Year 2011 as both of them won six Test matches each but England’s victories came against the sides with a lot better quality than Pakistan’s victories against the teams like Zimbabwe and Bangladesh as well as New Zealand and Sri Lanka.
Despite of a strong England side, it is Pakistan who will have the home advantage in their happy hunting ground in the Gulf where they have had successful times over the years.
As international teams are reluctant to tour Pakistan in the wake of War on Terrorism and the rise of terrorists activities in Pakistan, especially after a terrorist attack on Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore in March 2009, the Men in Green are made to play their home series in the United Arab Emirates.
Pakistani cricket team has enjoyed dominance in the Year 2011 after beating quality sides of Sri Lanka and New Zealand and their record in the UAE is second to none therefore they have this slight advantage of the weather and home conditions which can trouble English cricketers to a greater degree.
Let’s take a look at what team the PCB has selected for the high-profile series against England.
The squad includes Misbah-ul-Haq (Captain), Younus Khan, Umar Gul, Mohammad Hafeez, Taufeeq Umar, Imran Farhat, Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Adnan Akmal (Wicket-Keeper), Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman, Mohammad Talha, Aizaz Cheema, Junaid Khan (Subject to fitness), and Wahab Riaz.
Wahab Riaz is the surprise inclusion in the Test squad but Chief Selector Muhammad Ilyas told reporters in Lahore Monday that the left-arm fast bowler was included in the squad after getting clearance by the PCB.
It is important to mention here that Wahab Riaz emerged as the top Pakistan fast bowler after his superb performance against India in the Semi-Final match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 but was sent home from the Sri Lanka series after an undercover reporter told the Southwark Crown Court’s jury that cricket agent Mazhar Majeed had mentioned his name as one of the many Pakistani cricketers who were in contact with him.
Ilyas told reporters, “We have selected all those players who were cleared by the PCB and Riaz is one of them. Riaz has done well and that’s why he is in the team.”
The Chief Selector further stated, “We have tried to pick the best balanced side possible for a series that is going to be very tough and challenging for us. We had to keep in mind the conditions that prevail in the UAE and have picked a balanced bowling attack including pacers and spinners.”
Now the decision for the team management to field eleven players is quite interesting. Pakistani openers are well set and already have made a world record for partnering each other in the most number of Test matches. Both Mohammad Hafeez and Taufiq Umar have hit massive centuries off-late and with Azhar Ali, Younus Khan, and Misbah-ul-Haq capturing the number three-to-five slots, the competition would be for the number six where Asad Shafiq has been consistently playing and has recently scored a brilliant century against Bangladesh.
In the given scenario, it would be really hard for Umar Akmal to make his way into the playing-eleven and may be tied against his brother Adnan Akmal but Umar’s skills as wicket-keeper are yet to be tested therefore Misbah-ul-Haq is likely to go with Adnan Akmal.
Since the pitches in the United Arab Emirates are expected to be the slow and low ones, there are huge chances that Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman both stay in the final eleven while there is no replacement for Umar Gul as yet, so Wahab Riaz may manage to find a place as the second fast bowler in the team.
The Pakistani selectors also named the PCB XI which will take on England in a three-day match from 11-13 January, 2012. The squad includes Nasir Jamshaid, Afaq Rahim, Harris Sohail, Muhammad Ayub Dogar, Fawad Alam, Usman Salahuddin, Sarfraz Ahmad (Wicket-Keeper/Captain), Raza Hassan, Muhammad Khalil, Muhammad Talha, Ali Imran Pasha, and Yasir Shah.
When we take a look at the England squad, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has given left-arm off-spinner Monty Panesar yet another chance to resurrect his Test career on the pitches which are expected to favor his style of bowling.
On papers, both England and Pakistan are likely to go with one left-arm and one right-arm off-spinner in shape of Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman for Pakistan and Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann for England which makes it an intriguing contest.
England squad includes Andrew Strauss (Captain, Middlesex), James Anderson (Lancashire), Ian Bell (Warwickshire), Ravi Bopara (Essex), Tim Bresnan (Yorkshire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Alastair Cook (Essex), Steve Davies (Wicket-Keeper, Surrey), Steven Finn (Middlesex), Eoin Morgan (Middlesex), Monty Panesar (Sussex), Kevin Pietersen (Surrey), Matt Prior (wkt, Sussex), Graeme Swann (Nottinghamshire), Chris Tremlett (Surrey), and Jonathan Trott (Warwickshire).
England’s batsmen enjoyed a runs-filled Year 2011 and will be oozing with confidence to take on Pakistani fast and spin bowlers. All of the top six batsmen including Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Eoin Morgan, and Ravi Bopara are in great form and have the ability to dismantle any attack.
As far as their bowling is concerned, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Chris Tremlett, and Tim Bresnan are fully equipped with skill of Reverse Swing while Graeme Swann is the world’s best spinner along with Pakistan’s Saeed Ajmal.
It is still hard to predict any result for the series but this would be the first real big test for a newborn Pakistan cricket team and performance from their batsmen would be far more important than how their bowlers perform while England will have to forget their position in Test cricket and do everything right from the start if they want to beat Pakistan in their friendly conditions.
Wahab Riaz
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