Interesting article from Asif Iqbal

Interesting article from Asif Iqbal in the News. He speaks of the many talents of Mohammad Asif, and also of Shahid Afridi's worth to the side. He makes an interesting comment about Shahid Afridi: "His batting does not always come off but he brings such varied talents to the side that one can always expect him to make a meaningful contribution."

Asif Iqbal also makes an intriguing point about Inzamam and ODIs. Let me be frank though: I think Inzamam needs to stay and captain us in the World Cup. So I guess, I disagree with Mr. Iqbal here.

Limited overs cricket is a young man’s game and in this context, once you are in the mid-thirties, you don’t quite qualify as a ‘young man’. That is why stalwarts like Lara and Warne have ruled themselves out of limited overs cricket but still have a valuable role to play for their sides in Test cricket.

Inzamam’s limited agility means that in the field he gives away runs which a younger and quicker person would have saved, and while batting he misses many runs which a more speedy runner would have made easily. In ODIs every run scored or saved counts and that is why physical fitness is so essential. Also, as time goes on, he needs more time to get the pace of the pitch and set up his stall, and the limited overs format just does not allow that much time.

All this, together with his reluctance to come higher up the order, means that there are not too many situations in one day cricket in which he could be expected to make a contribution that counts.

It is a situation which Inzamam himself should be considering for the stature he has earned for himself in Pakistan cricket is so high that these are not things that anyone could ever point out to him.