Pakistan's first Twenty20 foray in Kenya

Oops! I made a mistake. Pakistan's first Twenty20 match was against South Africa in February, which they lost by ten wickets. My apologies.

Intriguing times in the world of Twenty20 cricket for Pakistan. After never having played international Twenty20 cricket, Pakistan entered a "Quadrangular" in Kenya, where they were able to lose their Twenty20 virginity, and for the first time assess Shoaib Malik as captain of Pakistan.

Pakistan's performance was pretty good, even though the opposition was Kenya, Bangladesh and Uganda. As expected, Bangladesh was the only team that gave them strenuous opposition, yet they were able to pull through with a fairly definitive victory in that match.

I have not been able to find any video coverage of the match on the net so far, but I will keep looking. From the Cricinfo bulletins, along with the statistics available, it looks like Salman Butt, Shahid Afridi and Younis Khan acquitted themselves fairly well with the bat, while the spinners did fairly well with the ball. As expected, the pacers came in for a reasonable amount of stick, with Akhtar and Asif being walloped around somewhat. What is even more interesting, is that Younis Khan took 3 wickets against Uganda when he bowled. A budding Sachin?

My favourite prospect Fawad Alam, however, didn't really get a lot of chances, and only seemed to acquit himself with the ball, giving away 15 runs in his four overs in the match against Kenya. I wish he was given more opportunities, but it looks like they want to try Yasir Arafat in the all-rounder position, with Shahid Afridi already in the squad. Lets hope Fawad Alam gets a shot in the upcoming cup.

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Salman Butt acknowledges Coaching

Listen good Shahid Afridi, Listen Good! Coaching can help!

Pakistan in Abu Dhabi: An auspicious start

All in all, not too bad. Pakistan played 3 matches, tried out around 16 players and had an overall positive experience. Shoaib Malik, if not spectacular, showed himself to be capable to the task of being captain. Fielding changes, using the power play and bowling changes were all appropriate and lived up to his promise of being aggressive and looking for the win. He also seemed to be well settled at the number 5 position, and interestingly enough only gave himself a bowl in the second match.

I think this does speak to the overwhelming concern many have had about the large number of all-rounders in the squad. How many will get a bowl, and how will circumstances allow everyone to get overs in. I mean it is kinda silly when the only people who didn't get a bowl in the series were Yousuf, Kamran Akmal, Imran Nazir, Salman Butt and Yasir Hameed. Fawad Alam didn't impress with the bat, but a young all-rounder could have been given a shot if it wasn't for the presence in the squad in the third ODI of no less than SEVEN effective bowlers.

Shahid Afridi can be welcomed back to the squad, and this time not just as an aggressive batsman, but as a truly modern, effective all-rounder. Salman Butt scored the most runs for Pakistan after Shoaib Malik, in a welcome return to form. Akmal also batted well when given an opportunity, while Sami, Umar Gul and Asif, although not spectacular, were effective and showed an ability to make a dead wicket work for them. Abdul Razzaq also suffered from the surplus of bowlers, and only got one match where he bowled at all. Abdur Rehman continued to impress in his one outing, bowling economically and threateningly ala a Pakistani Panesar.

This young squad, if Younis Khan and Shoaib Akhtar are able to make a return, will continue to demonstrate all the talent that every one is sure that they possess. All was not lost in the World Cup loss, and Inzamam and Woolmer's legacy is not all religiosity and indiscipline.

Salman Butt Dropped!!

Salman Butt has been left out of the 14 person squad named for the two ODIs against India at Abu Dhabi. It appears that Imran Farhat has now become the left handed opener of choice for the Pakistani squad. In an interesting note, even Umar Gul has been left out of this squad.

Inzamam criticizes Salman, Yousuf and Naved

Inzamam has made some frank comments in his column in The News about his views on the team performance.

While he does point out how a certain group of people are looking for things to criticize about the team, he goes on to speak of the progress made by the Pakistani cricket team, yet isn't shy about pointing out certain areas which need improvement. He rightly criticizes the team for their poor fielding, and also speaks of the poor and inconsistent performances by Salman Butt, Mohammad Yousuf and Rana Naved.

Wonder how this public criticism plays out however in the dressing room.

The News and Cricket - Take a chill pill!

Now, this is what passes as effective sports journalism. This has been a year in which Pakistan tied India in India in tests, won a ODI series against India, tied a test series against the West Indies and swept them in the ODIs, defeated England in tests and ODIs, and beat India in another test series. Now that Pakistan has lost the ODI series against India, suddenly, if you listen to this article, its time to man the lifeboats. Pakistani cricket is falling apart.

Some of the criticism is valid. Poor fielding. An opening pair crisis in tests and ODIs. But the remaining criticism is just plain silly. Questioning Shoaib Malik's performance at the number 3 position has become a very popular thing to do these days. A well sorted out article in Cricinfo, goes through Malik's stats and shows that he is the most effective batsman at the No. 3 position over the last 18 months and over the last 18 months is the fourth best ODI batsman in the world. Why people would want to mess with that kind of success is really ludicrous.

I think everyone needs to calm down and take this entire series in some form of perspective. Salman Butt and Rana Naved have had a poor ODI series. Imran Farhat once again demonstrated why he has been in and out of the squad with his performance. Yousuf and Younis didn't really click effectively in the last few matches. Its alright. This is a good squad.

Is this gossip? Salman Butt engaged!

Salman Butt is engaged! While this might be gossip, it is sporting as well, as Salman Butt married Pakistani tennis star (ok, she's not Sania Mirza) Maira Raheem. Congrats to the couple!