Pakistan's dream team
In his blog for the Dawn , Ahsan Butt has picked his Pakistan dream team - Mohammad, Anwar, Younis, Miandad, Inzamam, Imran, Wasim, Latif, Qadir, Fazal, and Waqar.'
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
In his blog for the Dawn, Ahsan Butt has picked his Pakistan dream team - Mohammad, Anwar, Younis, Miandad, Inzamam, Imran, Wasim, Latif, Qadir, Fazal, and Waqar.'
First things first: I understand the batting is a touch weak. Playing two all-rounders at six and seven is usually a recipe for disaster, particularly if you lose a couple of early wickets. Plus, the tail is a bit long – Qadir, Fazal, and Waqar could all bat a bit, but none count among the uber-dogged tailenders who could bat a session. And it’s not like Rashid was Adam Gilchrist with the bat.
But you know what? It can’t be helped. If Pakistan had a super-duper star available at number six, I’d pick him, shunt everyone down a spot, and drop Fazal. But I can’t do that because there are no contenders. Asif Iqbal is a possibility, but when you consider that his batting average of 38.9 is barely better than Imran Khan’s (37.7), it doesn’t make much sense. One could also play Mohammad Yousuf here, but other than that one ungodly period from October 2005 to February 2007, his career has flattered to deceive. He doesn’t belong in this team. No, two allrounders at six and seven is the only way to go. But I’ll come back to this.
George Binoy is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo