The issues with this team are too many and too varied. I must say that this timidity is borne out of lack of confidence and planning. On the battle field armies always look at their leaders. If the leader is in the mood to tear the enemy from limb to limb that will be the general attitude of the men fighting under him. Yousuf is not the kind. I am not challenging his cricketing brains rather his attitude. It usually reflects in his strategies on and off the field. The Pakistani men you mentioned in your article were all full of sauce. I was on the ground the day when Miandad went after Lille with his bat. He was left alone by Aussies after that incident. I was on the ground in Karachi when Miandad went out to bat on a bouncy track facing Marshal, Garner, Holding and can't recall the name of that crazy bowler with a roundhouse action and ripping speed without a helmet. Mushtaq made sure that he put it on when he sent it out!That's called balls and I see the same streak in Umar.

Timidity goes with lack of confidence and performance on the field. Bad management on the part of the Pakistan Cricket Board has in the last 2/3 years undermined the constitution of the Pakistan Cricket team. They lost their best player Mohammed Yousuf to ICL which weakened the team considerably until recently. By reacting to frivolous match-fixing allegations they have now lost Younis Khan,their second-best player. If these 2 players play together the Pakistan team is formidable with other batsmen like Misbah-ul-haq and their talented bowling combination The Pakistani players are under constant pressure from the Pakistani cricket fans who expect them to win every match. Not only should the players become more professional and tough,it is time the Pakistan Cricket Board and the Pakistani fans grew up.

Why is the author making unnecessary comparisons with the Indian team...

Excellent article with substantive comments and wrtiiten in eloquent style. A rarity nowadays in Pakistani journalism!

truely agreed with u osman.. the team certainly lacks the aggression of professionals. watching them play, it seems they really got on to the field wearing the 'underdogs' ribbon! besides, Yousifs leadership seriously needs to be questioned. I would rather spell lethargic on the field. perhaps, leadership certainly is inherited ! one question: how can a side touring Australia get on the field with only four bowlers to choose from, despite when your batsmen are already vulnerable to shaky starts. here comes another injury prone pakistani bowler

Pakistanis playing like zombies. You can't win against aussies like that. You have to fight fire with fire. Aussies bowling is not even good. Only doug bollinger is impressive even him also give some 4 balls. Aussie bowling is not disciplined. WHy rauf and faisal is in the team is beyond me. They are not world class. faisal in the team because favour to javaed mianded?. He gets too many chances for delivering nothing. I always see pakistan produce extremely talented cricketers. Even afridi is better option as second spinner. His bowling alone deserve the spot. My only problem with afridi is he never listens to authority. So why not make him captain?. They need Younis khan to bring some common sense. yufu is great batsman he is also dravid mould as captain. TIMID. Based on what i see if Umar akmal do not go berserk , Pak may lose this matches easily. Pak needs to counter attack. Go all out if you are going to lose.

Perhaps it is time for Shahid Afridi to start playing test cricket again. His batting has improved dramatically in the past two years. His successes in T20 carried themselves forward to the one day arena (with both bat and ball). A regular no. 6 bat, he still may not be, but it seems insanity to refuse to try it considering the kind of form he is in. There may be worries that his bowling may not be up to test-level. This would be another mistaken reduction as his bowling too has been improving consistently since Woolmer took over. He will also provide the necessary aggression you are talking about, as his T20 captaincy shows. I am not advocating giving him the captaincy immediately, but Mohammad Yousuf is certainly not looking like a leader in Australia - tactically or in terms of his body language and man management. However, despite this, I think it is wise to encourage the openers to play more sedately as these two especially, have had a tendency to get out driving expansively.

This article is true that Pakistan has to overcome the name of Australia. This is not that team which Pakistan played against in 1999 or in 2005. They need to attack like South Africa and India as they did in past few years. But attack can be possible if they have a brave leader and Pakistan is missing a brave leader since Wasim Akram. Every body remeber the stare of Pakistan capt M. Yousaf towards Umar Akmal when he tried to attack New Zealand on the last day of 3rd test in Napier.

My feelings exactly!! Australians thrive on intimidation factor and the best way to tackle them is by returning the favor. Umar Akmal can do it and the 1st hour of play on day 3 will probably reflect on how this series would end.

The things which always betray Pakistan team's ability to perform well are their batting capacity and fielding. Now these disabilities are further strengthen by Yousuf's captaincy which definitely lacks the required flare and aggression. No doubt he has been a great contributor with the bat (in total contrast with his fielding capacity), but he does not seem fit in his new role as a Captain. Furthermore, inclusion of Faisal Iqbal and Misbah-ul-Haq is also a big question mark. It seems we have a total dearth of new talented batsmen? With total agreement to Mr. Samiuddin, our team needs conviction, resolve and a bigger heart to tackle Aussies in all aspects of the game.