Pakistan's final fifteen for World Cup 2003

The final teams for the World Cup 2003 need to be announced late in December but for Pakistan, selection of the fifteen only has ten to twelve certainties with 3-5 still contentious places. Before we go to individual selections we need to look at the major issue that made news very recently.

The PCB Chairman has said that there was no problem with Waqar Younis on performance and form and essentially named him captain of the World Cup squad. Is he watching the same team and its performance? Let us set the record straight first.

Results:
The current captain is a liability to the team and the record of the last 20 matches he has captained is: Wins - 9, Losses - 10, No Result - 1.

What's worse is this record is even pporer against the strongest teams, Australia, South Africa and Sri Lanka: Wins - 3, Losses - 10, No Result - 1.

This is only a 30% winning percentage and obviously a completely unacceptable mark.

The results in recent times have been abysmal and did lead to the ousting of Mudassar as coach and Yawar Saeed as Manager. The captain stood absolved of any blame. How is that possible? Can he really motivate the team and what about the messing about with Youhana and loud reports on tour about his `superior attitude' towards champions like Saqlain and Saeed Anwar and his yanking of Afridi up and down the order? Surely not things that are conducive to a settled team. One cannot recall any team retaining a captain with such results.

Performance:
Now, a look at his performance in ODI's. Waqar Younis' RPO (Runs Per Over) for the last 20 matches is 5.28 and this is absolutely unacceptable. Brett Lee, who is a much faster and better bowler, at this time, was DROPPED for having a RPO of 4.7. Waqar is half a run per over more. Thus. we have a formerly great bowler who now does not command a place in the team for three reasons:
a) His RPO is too high.
b) His fielding is probably the worst in the team, and
c) His batting is mediocre which makes the tail longer, especially if combined with key placeholders like Shoaib and Saqlain. If Waqar plays and gives up 53 runs on average, drops catches and is part of a very long tail (South Africa is a 2 man tail, so is Australia), Pakistan cannot afford Waqar.

Who can replace him is going to be discussed in the selection of fast bowlers later in the article.

Team selection:
South African wickets are naturally hard and bouncy and one needs batsmen with decent techniques, both in defence on the backfoot and, most importantly, good cutting and pulling capabilities (backfoot offence). Pace bowlers need to bowl 'back of a length' and seam the ball and swing it if they can. They have to be able to bowl in the channel and on one side of the wicket. The spinners, if played, have to be World Class on these pitches and the inferior ones will be smashed about.

Openers:
The openers, keeping the conditions criteria in mind, need good backfoot defence and great backfoot attack. I would ask for Saeed Anwar (experienced), Imran Nazir and Saleem Elahi. Saeed is still essential for his experience at the top of the order. He can still handle fast bowlers well and can score at a fast clip and turn his 30s into 80s and beyond. Admittedly, Saeed is a liability in the field but can be hidden at third man for most of the match.

Imran Nazir can cut and pull with the best of them. His play in Australia is a perfect example earlier this year. He needs to work on the technique a little with the coaches and should be a great asset. He is a tremendous fielder.

Saleem Elahi is the toughest selection of the three in spite of his 3 hundreds in the last few matches for Pakistan. He is a good cutter and puller and though has the weakness of a slanted bat at times to the best bowlers, has a recent ODI record that is hard to ignore. He also is capable of one very big thing - partnerships. He and Younis Khan understand that they need to stay at the wicket with a partner to help make a large total. Some of the other youngsters can learn from that.

It is tough to leave Taufeeq Umar and Imran Farhat home. Both are very good at the cut and pull but are too raw for the World Cup. Taufeeq may have the best technique of the lot but is too slow for ODI's for now and not as explosive as needed. Imran Farhat has the most potential and will be a great opener for Pakistan in the future but they are too inexperienced to dislodge the other three.

Middle Order and All-Rounders:
The middle order picks itself. Youhana, Inzamam, Younis Khan. Is there a need to take a fourth middle order bat? I don't think so. I would rather take three explosive all-rounders in Razzaq, Azhar Mahmood and Shahid Afridi. All three are also the right type of bowlers on those pitches and all can bat well there too.

Too many people underestimate Azhar Mahmood as a batsman in South Africa but he can be a real asset.

The ones missing out are Misbah-ul-Haq and Faisal Iqbal. They will have other opportunities.

Keeper:
The 'keeper is another key position as in todays ODI's the keeper has to be an all-rounder and more importantly a finisher. A role Moin played in 1992 World Championship team and even more so in the 1999 World Cup finalist team in England. He can carve up an attack at the death with great batting even against the McGraths and the Donalds of the World. Along with Wasim, Razzaq and Azhar Mahmood, Moin can help make 90-100 runs in the last ten overs. That luxury is absolutely important to have in a tournament where there will be no easy runs in the first 15 overs and all care must be taken to emphasise playing the first 12-14 overs carefully. Rashid and Kamran Akmal (at the moment) do not give the batting lineup the depth and the explosiveness of a Moin. As far as keeping is concerned, the order of capability at this stage of their lives is:
a) Kamran Akmal
b) Rashid and Moin (tie)

Given all this I would take Moin as the 'keeper. As for his being out of touch, he can play the domestic matches and be ready for the pre-tournament practice matches in South Africa. He will be ready before the Super Sixes. Rashid has been struggling with his batting and fitness recently and his batting against the quicks has never been too tantalising. Some may throw his test hundred as defence but that was too long ago and he has not been a very consistent performer both for attack or defense for quite a while in ODI's. His record in his last 10 matches is poor as far as his batting is concerned. And he has recently remained unfit too many times for a top 'keeper.

Spinner:
The spinner slot is easy and it is Saqlain. Danish Kaneria does not make the team this time due to the experience factor.

Fast Bowlers:
Pakistan has four slots. Wasim and Shoaib are automatics and so is Sami. The last spot should go to Fazl-e-Akbar. He is a back of a length bowler and can consistently get people out too. In his last visits to South Africa both as an Under 19 player and with the Pakistan team he was outstanding as he digs it into the pitch a little bit and moves it off the seam.

Captain:
If Wasim Akram is still considered controversial, I would not make Inzamam the captain but give it to Moin Khan and make sure that the seniors like Wasim and Inzamam are 100% behind him. If that even, is unacceptable, then Younis Khan can take the lead with the same caveat of co-operation from seniors like Wasim, Inzamam and Moin.

The hard headedness of the PCB which has remained steadfast with Waqar has already hurt the team and will do more damage if not corrected. These players do not give their full for him anymore and forcing them to do so will be tantamount to, "beatings will continue till morale improves." And everyone knows this is no way towards optimal performance.

My Team:
1. Saeed Anwar
2. Imran Nazir
3. Saleem Elahi
4. Yousuf Youhana
5. Inzamam-ul-Haq
6. Younis Khan
7. Abdul Razzaq
8. Shahid Afridi
9. Azhar Mahmood
10. Moin Khan
11. Wasim Akram
12. Saqlain Mushtaq
13. Shoaib Akhtar
14. Mohammad Sami
15. Fazl-e-Akbar