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.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
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 He has been replaced by Zulqarnain Haider, a rookie with no ODI or test experience.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.
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.
Friday, August 6, 2010
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.
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.
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