Pakistan: Difficult decisions ahead

Pakistan had a match againstCanada, more noticeable for some decisions and non-decisions rather than the quality of the match. Pakistan won, albeit unspectacularly, but I'd like to focus on some interesting, and almost strange choices made during the match.

The decision to open with Younis Khan is bit of a strange one. I know many, almost jokingly, have said that Younis Khan ends ups opening the innings anyhow, so we might as well let him bat as an opener. I'm not sure if this is just an experiment or a fairly blunt statement that the openers selected have no hope in high heaven of doing anything reasonable, so Pakistan's only option is to slot in the steady Younis Khan with the explosive Imran Nazir and hope that this works. While I understand the temptation to try to address long-term problems with a short-term mindset, this is an un-natural solution. I would much rather see Mohammad Hafeez play in that number 2 slot, with Yousuf and Inzamam at 3 & 4, like they were in this match. No. 5 is a natural position for Younis Khan in one-dayers as he has the ability to build an innings almost invisibly through some canny shot placements and smooth running between the wickets.

The other interesting decision, was to let Naved open the bowling, despite the almost plethora of statistics that show that he couldn't bowl his mother-in-law out with the new ball, but with the old-ball he is almost a magician. I think a more natural opening duo is Umar Gul and Iftikhar Anjum, under the circumstances, with Rana Naved the old ball and death bowler, who can also hit the ball somewhat lustily. I haven't made any decisions yet about the rest of the squad, and the match against South Africa in a few days will perhaps give a better indication of what the starting XI is going to be against the West Indies.

If Pakistan stick with Imran Nazir, Younis Khan, Inzamam, Mohammad Yousuf, Kamran Akmal and Umar Gul as the can't miss, that leaves five spots. If one concedes that Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik and Shahid Afridi are going to play, then Pakistan will have to add Rana Naved and Rao Iftikhar as the pace options to round out the playing XI. Azhar Mahmood could play if Nazir or Hafeez are left out, or perhaps even Naved. I just don't see any room for Danish in this setup, unless Pakistan do something unorthodox with the opening situation and slot in Shoaib Malik or Shahid Afridi in that position like they have in the past. Difficult decisions to be made here.

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