One aspect of the game that should not cause too much worry and will play a crucial role in the team’s progress is its bowling department. Saeed Ajmal — inexplicably not even considered worthy of a nomination for the International Cricket Council Cricketer of the Year Award — has shot up to the top of the Twenty20 bowlers’ ranking, while Shahid Afridi is also among the top 10.
The nature of this format of the game is such that it does require some level of luck to succeed. However, with the advent of numerous Twenty20 leagues the world over, and with players now having extensive experience of playing this format and adapting their styles to suit the game, the luck factor may not count for as much as it did in the earlier editions. Over the years, Pakistan have displayed a natural flair for Twenty20 cricket and although recent results may not reflect this entirely, it will be foolhardy for opponents to underestimate their chances. However, notwithstanding the immense talent at their disposal, Pakistan will still have to play out of their skins to have a shot at dethroning the defending champions, England.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 18th, 2012.
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ya surely the pitches hv changed with the ball seaming quite a lot specially in the 2nd half of the innings..what i m worried abt is the fragility of our lower middle order specially umer akmal,razzaq and afridi..our fast bowling dept isnt as good as it used to be in the past..plus the fielders hv to catch what is offered to them..if we lose against new zealand,then bangladesh is going to be bcm an even more tuffer opposition for us..anyhow best wishes for our team
pitches in srilanka have changed over the years now they are no more spin friendly. There is some movement for fast bowlers and bowl swings early on. Pak need to utilize the fast bowlers at their disposal. Go with arafat gul and tanvir, get rid of afridi and include razzaq, coz his medium pacers could be really effective.batting order should be Nazir, hafeez, nasir, kamran, malik, umer, razzaq, arafat, gul, tanvir, ajmal.