Younis Khan, take a bow

As a regular cricket viewer, every time I hear "Younis Khan" I remember two words "honesty" and "integrity". That is right, Younis Khan is an honest and hard working cricketer who gives his 100% every time he comes out to play. It is very hard to find a good player in Pakistan cricket who is not involved in scandals.

As it turns out, Younis Khan is the only centurion for Pakistan in the last 5 tests. Against South Africa when the target was 451 for Pakistan in the 4th innings, a lot of people (including myself) expected Pakistan to collapse and lose badly. But Younis's gutsy century made sure Pakistan drew the test with dominance.

After all the scandals Pakistan cricket team went through over the last few months, this century from Younis Khan is certainly one positive aspect. The new test team after the demise of Asif, Butt and Amir is certainly looking promising.

West Indies team without Chris Gayle?

West Indies batting is heavily dependent on Chanderpaul, Sarwan, Gayle, and Bravo. But out of all the players, I think Chris Gayle has the biggest role to play. West Indies team often wins games because of the cameos Gayle provides time after time. But what will happen after Gayle retires or gets injured?

I believe last time West Indies played a tournament without Chris Gayle was in the ICC Champions Trophy 2009. The team lost all the games. Before that series, West Indies got whitewashed to Bangladesh. It shows that without Chris Gayle, West Indies can be a very ordinary team.

Gayle is currently 30 years old, which means he should be able to play for at least 5 more years. West Indies seriously needs to start looking for new players who can be a candidate in being a suitable replacement for Chris Gayle.

Kamran Akmal - end of his test career as a wicket keeper?

Kamran Akmal, a regular Pakistani test wicket keeper for the last few years is not playing against England in Birmingham (2nd test of the series). He has been replaced by Zulqarnain Haider, a rookie with no ODI or test experience.

Kamran Akmal's faulty keeping behind the stumps as well as his ordinary batting most of the time has put Akmal's test career as a wicket keeper in jeopardy. Another bad news for Kamran Akmal; Zulqarnain scored a fighting 88 and probably gave Pakistan a hope of winning the test match.

If Zulqarnain continues to bat well and does not drop regulation catches, i do not find any reason why Zulqarnain should not be a regular test wicket keeper. In other words, I think it is time for Kamran Akmal to focus on ODI and twenty20 cricket and forget about being a test wicket keeper for a while.

Pakistan batting legacy in test cricket - is it lost?

There used to be a time when Pakistan had a very solid middle order along with a world class top order. At that time, their tail-end batsmen can chip in with a few runs too.

Right now on 2010, Pakistani batting does not back up the fact they used to have a world class batting line up. Selectors that are in charge of selecting players for Pakistan, need to wake up and smell the coffee. In my opinion, batting talent is present in Pakistan but they are not getting groomed in a professional manner.

Let's take a look at two recent youngsters - Umar Amin and Azhar Ali. Umar Amin is yet to make an impact in the international scene. I understand, he is playing in England where batsmen often had to face tough conditions. His test batting average is showing 10.33 after 3 tests (excluding his 23 runs today at Birmingham), which is simply not good enough at the international level no matter how tough the conditions are.

Azhar Ali did not do too bad against Australia, but it had a lot to do with Australia's sloppy bowling in my opinion. Azhar Ali has been exposed by England so far. Unless Azhar scores at least a hundred, I do not think he should keep his place in the side for a long time.

At this moment, there is not a single batsman in the current Pakistani line up that looks like an international test batsman. It is an alarming sign and Pakistan selectors should do something about it.

Will Bangladesh surpass West Indies in the ODI ranking very soon?

Bangladesh has 52 points in ODI ranking currently, West Indies has 70 points. Which means, if Bangladesh somehow manages to win a few games against some top nations they can easily replace West Indies from the 8th position in the ODI ranking.

Bangladesh is supposed to play zimbabwe later in 2010 (if i am not mistaken), which they should win comfortably. Before that, they are supposed to host New Zealand that includes 3 ODI matches. New Zealand faced a very tough time last time they toured Bangladesh, even though they managed to win the series 2-1.

If Bangladesh can produce tracks suitable to the spinners, I think Bangladesh can give New Zealand a tough time again. I think the series against New Zealand will be a great opportunity for Bangladesh to come closer in terms of replacing West Indies from the 8th position in the ICC ranking.

Who should be the captain of Pakistan cricket team in test matches?

After observing the first test between Pakistan and Australia at Lord's, I have to say it is not a bad move from Afridi to retire from test cricket. I think Afridi does not have what it takes to play in a test match. Afridi's bowling is not suitable for test, his batting has never been consistent either. In other words, I think there are better test players in Pakistan.

Earlier, I made a post where I stated Afridi can dug Pakistan out of the hole they are in currently. I stated some reasons why I thought like that. But after observing the first test match, I have to say Afridi may not be the right man to lead the team in test matches.

But if Afridi is not the right man to lead Pakistan in test matches, then who is? I am finding it a bit hard to answer this question. Quite honestly, Pakistan does not have a proper test team and none of the players in the team deserves to be captain in a test match. But since a cricket team needs to have a captain, I think Pakistan should appoint Salman Butt as a captain. Salman Butt is probably one of the least controversial cricketers in the Pakistan team at this moment, if anyone can be the captain I think Salman Butt is the one.

Salman Butt is doing good with the bat recently, hopefully the extra pressure of the captaincy will not distract his batting (assuming he will be appointed as the captain).

What happened to Kenya Cricket Team?

Kenya reached the semi final of the world cup 2003, which in my opinion was a bit shocking. But after that world cup, they did not make any significant amount of impact in a big tournament. I think Kenya cricket team should be invited by test playing nations on a regular basis. Because of lack of quality tournaments, I think Kenya cricket is in a very bad shape. I think they should be at the same level as Zimbabwe is by now, but that is not the case.

Maybe ICC can help Kenya cricket team financially. Kenya is without a doubt, one of the top 12 teams in the world. If ICC wants to spread the game of cricket globally, they need to help these cricket boards as much as possible.

Ireland Cricket - What needs to be done?

Ireland cricket team managed to make an impact over the last 3 years. In 2007, they knocked out Pakistan and beat Bangladesh in the super 8 phase out of nowhere. To be quite honest, before 2007 I was not totally sure if Ireland could knock out Pakistan. Somehow and someway, they got the job done.

Ireland cricket team is one of the next candidates to get the test status in my opinion. I think it will not be a bad idea to give Ireland a full time ODI status. To me, Ireland should not be considered as an associate cricket nation; to me they are on the same level as Zimbabwe.

I think Ireland cricket board should make sure that their players do not play for other countries. Eoin Morgan and Ed Joyce (both of them are Irish) decided to play for England instead of Ireland, which is certainly a blow for Ireland cricket and it does not set a good example for the upcoming Irish cricketers. If Morgan and Joyce plays for Ireland, I have a feeling they can be a better cricket team and who knows maybe they can upset giants on a regular basis.

Twenty20 Cricket - a blessing in disguise?

I was not a big fan of twenty20 cricket a few months ago. However, I have to say twenty20 cricket is actually implementing positive attitudes in batsmen. In my opinion, Twenty20 cricket is going to benefit the batsmen in the long run compared to bowlers.

Nowadays, we see many teams scoring 300 and 350 quite frequently in ODI matches. Many teams are not scared of chasing 300+ scores. I think it has a lot to do with the arrival of twenty20 cricket (along with the 20 overs of powerplay batting sides can use).

I believe some people are suggesting that twenty20 should replace ODI (for example - Shane Warne). I have a huge problem with that. ODI cricket already has a tradition, there are already 9 world cups that were held in the past. If ODI is replaced by Twenty20 cricket, cricket will lose a lot of fans I feel.

What I am suggesting is, both Twenty20 cricket and ODI cricket should stay and co operate with each other in various ways.

Is England going to win the Ashes again?

Last time England and Australia played for the Ashes Cup, England won. We have to keep in mind that the series was played in England, and England plays much better in test matches when they play on home soil.

This time however, England is going to defend the title in Australian soil.

If I remember correctly, last time England played a test series in Australia they lost the series 5-0. Even though that series had greats like Shane Warne and Glen Mcgrath, the current Australian side is not a weak one either.

My personal opinion is, England will be thrashed once again by Australia (4-0) given how they are performing over the last few months (particularly in test matches).

I think England needs to find a suitable opening partner for Andrew Strauss, if they want to compete against the Australians. Their pace bowling attack needs to be on target as well.

I do not see a lot of problems with the middle order, I think England has a decent middle order which should make the series interesting. I do not think spinner Swann will be very useful on Australian soil, but let's see.

Shahid Afridi - A 'savior' Pakistan has been waiting for?

Shahid Afridi is without any doubt one of the most well known cricket players in the world today. Anyone who follows cricket on a regular basis should know what this man is capable of. Even though he has a poor average with the bat, every time he comes to bat he brings fear to the opponents' hearts. Afridi also matured as a bowler over the last few years.

A few years ago, it was probably unthinkable to give Afridi the captaincy. He was irresponsible in his shot selections but he matured a lot as a batsman over the last few years. Somehow and someway, Afridi managed to become the captain of Pakistan cricket team and a few accomplishments have been achieved already:

- Ever since he became the captain, there is a new spirit in Pakistan cricket team which was missing for a few months (during the captaincy of Mohammed Yousuf, most notably).

- Pakistan qualified for the semi final in the world twenty20 under the captaincy of Shahid Afridi. Pakistan would have probably won the world cup again had it not for Michael Hussey.

- Pakistan did reasonably well in the Asia Cup, they were not outplayed.

- Pakistan beat Australia 2-0 in a twenty20 tournament, which is a big achievement I think.

- Most importantly there is no visible rift in the team right now. The team is looking united, which is a positive sign.

What I am trying to say is, Afridi is probably the most influential captain for Pakistan after Imran Khan. Afridi may not be the best player in the team, but he is certainly a captain who knows how to get the best from the team.

Mahmudullah, Imrul Kayes, and Mohammed Ashraful must be dropped from the team in all formats

Imrul Kayes - I do not think he has what it takes. He scores runs in ODI matches but He wastes too many balls. Nowadays, you can not afford to waste that many balls in the middle. I think Imrul Kayes should be replaced by Nazimuddin.

Ashraful - This guy is finished i think. He should retire and let Raqibul Hasan take his position.

Mahmudullah - He is not a team player i think. He wasted 81 balls to score 42 runs when the target was 348. His bowling is not that useful too. Maybe he can get a spot in test (although i am against it) but certainly not in ODI or twenty20 format. Mahmudullah should be replaced by Naeem Islam or some other rookie.

it is just my opinion after examining this team for the last few months.