Interesting thoughts from Woolmer. He appears willing to experiment for the upcoming matches against Ireland and Zimbabwe, in both the opening formats and also the lineup. I think a telling remark is the desire to have eight batsmen and six bowlers in the squad. The squad that played WI on the 13th had 7 batsmen, and 6 bowlers so not as versatile a squad as Woolmer now wants to have.
I must say, these comments sound pretty wishy-washy, "Maybe Imran Nazir will continue to open, maybe Kamran Akmal could open and Hafeez will drop down," Woolmer told reporters. "When Afridi comes back maybe he will open. At this stage one would hope that the batting lineup, which was supposed to be a strength of the side would be on firmer ground, yet that is obviously not the case.
As I have stated in earlier posts, the issue revolves around what happens with Azhar Mahmood/Yasir Arafat and Danish Kaneria and their role in the squad. The batting lineup is thin enough that Imran Nazir and Mohammad Hafeez cannot be dropped willy-nilly at this point in the game. Getting Kamran Akmal to open is a thought, as he has gotten all of his ODI 100s and 50s from the opening spot. I like OH's suggestion to maybe whack Imran Nazir and send him back to Pakistan as injured, and bring back Yasir Hameed to maybe give Pakistan some more options from the batting side.
Kamran Akmal & Mohammad Hafeez to start, with Yousuf, Inzamam and Younis, in that order, gives Pakistan a lot more authority and versatility in the top order, further I just think Hafeez is a lot more reliable than Nazir. After the top 5, Shoaib Malik and Shahid Afridi should be at 6 & 7 in whatever order, with Azhar Mahmood or Yasir Arafat at 8. The bowling can be rounded out with Gul, Rao and Naved or Sami. Keep Sami as far away as possible from this squad, and I really don't see any room for Danish in this squad.
This is not going to be easy for Woolmer.
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