Barely, but finally, Pakistan pulled it off. With another influential series coming up they do have many immediate questions to ponder.
First, what of Younis and Yousuf. There certainly is at least one opening in the team. The position held in the last match by Afridi and in this match by Malik is still up for grabs. The Malik/Afridi spot should probably go to an all rounder but neither Razzaq nor Tanvir has been in form with the bat and with the newness of the lineup it may be too bold to try a new all rounder even if one is good enough. Also the thinness of the top order demands a pure batsmen and the strength of the bowling allows it. The question is can the YoYo fit "socially" with the new setup?
The debutants did well. Azhar Ali should retain his place and even Umar Amin deserves an extended run at this point.
Umar Akmal will retain his place but he should do something fast unless he wishes to be another flash in the pan. He can take a few pointers from his contemporary Aamer who has gone from strength to strength. Akmal the younger needs to use his head more and not be just a clone of Akmal the elder. That would not be good enough to retain a place in the test side.
The bowling lineup looks good. Waqar and Aaqib deserve praise for all their work. Whenever Waqar has been the coach the bowlers have done well. Akram too deserves a pat for discovering Aamer. Aamer for the first time looked like a complete bowler. There was potential before and some very good spells but this time around he was consistently very good.
Asif did par for what is expected from him. Gul too. The problem is the moody nature of Gul's bowling. It remained so.
Kaneria didn't have much of a part to play in this series. The problem with the bowling may be that of depth. If not these guys then who. Ajmal does not yet appear to be a strike bowler at test level and any niggles and injuries to the fast bowling lineup will mean the addition of another debutant in all likelihood.
The series against England could be interesting if the players have and are willing to learn. They will need to close out innings when bowling and they will need scores far exceeding the 250 mark. England will be a far more bloody minded opponent than this Australian side. It would be interesting to see which ball the English pick considering Pakistan's recent bowling successes. The weakness of Pakistan's batting probably does not make it a hard question though.
First, what of Younis and Yousuf. There certainly is at least one opening in the team. The position held in the last match by Afridi and in this match by Malik is still up for grabs. The Malik/Afridi spot should probably go to an all rounder but neither Razzaq nor Tanvir has been in form with the bat and with the newness of the lineup it may be too bold to try a new all rounder even if one is good enough. Also the thinness of the top order demands a pure batsmen and the strength of the bowling allows it. The question is can the YoYo fit "socially" with the new setup?
The debutants did well. Azhar Ali should retain his place and even Umar Amin deserves an extended run at this point.
Umar Akmal will retain his place but he should do something fast unless he wishes to be another flash in the pan. He can take a few pointers from his contemporary Aamer who has gone from strength to strength. Akmal the younger needs to use his head more and not be just a clone of Akmal the elder. That would not be good enough to retain a place in the test side.
The bowling lineup looks good. Waqar and Aaqib deserve praise for all their work. Whenever Waqar has been the coach the bowlers have done well. Akram too deserves a pat for discovering Aamer. Aamer for the first time looked like a complete bowler. There was potential before and some very good spells but this time around he was consistently very good.
Asif did par for what is expected from him. Gul too. The problem is the moody nature of Gul's bowling. It remained so.
Kaneria didn't have much of a part to play in this series. The problem with the bowling may be that of depth. If not these guys then who. Ajmal does not yet appear to be a strike bowler at test level and any niggles and injuries to the fast bowling lineup will mean the addition of another debutant in all likelihood.
The series against England could be interesting if the players have and are willing to learn. They will need to close out innings when bowling and they will need scores far exceeding the 250 mark. England will be a far more bloody minded opponent than this Australian side. It would be interesting to see which ball the English pick considering Pakistan's recent bowling successes. The weakness of Pakistan's batting probably does not make it a hard question though.
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