A new one-day strategy for Pakistan

Pakistan cricket will have to rethink its one-day strategy when they start the new season in Sharjah next month. Over the last few years, our focus has primarily been on `bits and pieces players' or `bowling' all-rounders like Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Azhar Mahmood, Shoaib Malik, Naved ul Hasan, Yasir Arafat and so on. It seems the idea has been to have four main strike bowlers and usually two other bowlers who can bat as well, so that the captain has 6 bowlers at his disposal, in case one or two of them cause the fielders to run around the park.

I would, suggest a deep and careful analysis of our strengths and weaknesses and then formulate a new game plan for one-day cricket. To do that, let us first look at the available bowling resources for selection. Wasim Akram has deferred his retirement plans and should get the selectors' nod. He bowled his heart out in the World Cup and showed that there is a lot of cricket left in him. One hopes he doesn't get the axe for the failed campaign just because he is a senior in a team that failed. He, along with Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami can form a decent trio capable of testing any batting line-up. Sami can bowl consistently around 90 mph and is also quick through the air and off the wicket. With a few months of regular cricket under his belt, Sami and the other two can do same job that McGrath, Lee and Gillespie do for Australia.

Sami, with his ability to extract the maximum out of the wicket will also be very handy when Pakistan take on England in early summer.

Saqlain Mushtaq didn't get selected for most of the games in the World Cup but he is someone who can apply pressure in the middle overs. Thus this gives Pakistan four strike bowlers capable of consistently bowling 40 overs in every game. Before reviewing the options available for the other 10 overs, let me first look at Pakistan's batting lineup.

Inzamam is mentally very lethargic and because of that he tends to play all over the ball early on. He has all the ability but not the mental strength or agility that Tendulkar, Hayden or Ponting show at the crease. Lara and Slater for example, usually jump around at the striker's end like boxers early on but settle quickly. Being out of form or sometimes getting out early on is not an issue, but not being mentally active is, and losing weight does not make one mentally active. Anyway, Inzamam has resigned from vice-captaincy, which shows that he is serious about his batting. He will eventually come out of the bad patch but he must realize that to perform consistently at this level his mind should also always be there with him in the middle.

Moving on, Younis Khan is very capable of accelerating the scoring rate batting down the order while Saeed Anwar seems to be getting his old touch back. These three along with Yousuf Youhana should, in my opinion, be the four regular members of the side.

Leaving the wicket-keeper's place aside, I would suggest including two `batting' all-rounders to complete the team and names that spring to mind are, Imran Farhat and Taufeeq Umar. Both are capable of bowling 5 overs each, Imran Farhat even more. He is a leg break bowler and has a decent record in domestic cricket while Taufeeq Umar is an occasional off-break bowler. They are also specialist batsmen. Imran models himself after Saeed Anwar and is a naturally aggressive batsman, very fluent through the off-side. Taufeeq Umar is a composed batsman who has done enough to warrant his inclusion. He also seems to be a quick learner. In the first game against Australia he had problems rotating strike. I'm sure Pybus would have had discussions with him and as a result there was a marked change in his running against India.

These two together can do the job that Virender Sehwag and Dinesh Mongia do for India, Andrew Symonds and Darren Lehmann do for Australia and Jayasuriya and De Silva do for Sri Lanka. One-day cricket is a game where you can afford to have 10 overs bowled by such part-time bowlers.

I feel that as we start to build a supposedly new-look side, we must not leave out players who we feel will not be around for the next World Cup. There needs to be a slow infusion of youngsters and some players who seem to be ready for challenge are Saeed Bin Nasir, Misbah ul Haq, Mohammad Zahid, Usman Tariq and Shoaib Malik. I also feel that if selectors feel that Kamran Akmal is the future `keeper (there should be no reason to think otherwise) then he must not be ignored if Rashid Latif is made an interim-captain. He should always accompany the side so that he not only learns but also his confidence is not blown away by the thought of having to prove himself all over again after a couple of years.