Pakistan v West Indies, 2nd Test, Multan

[Mr Hutt]

Venue - Multan

weather - heavily overcast, rain aint far away

This is proving to be a very interesting and result oriented Test series, with this kind of weather prevailing we should be able to see the ball zip and dart!!! perfect test match conditions as far as i am concerned. Looking forward to seeing Umar gul and Nazeer as well as Niazi who might be played in Razzaqs place. Inzi going for a kill?? lord help us!!!

[gangstacocacola]

lol, i was just about to make a thread on this. i am hoping for saimullah niazi khan to play instead of razzaq who looks very down. overcast conditions will help bowlers to the team which fields first. the team that wins the toss will be very advantaged. im hoping for a big inzi innings aswell.

[Rachael]

Originally Posted by gangstacocacola

i am hoping for saimullah niazi khan to play instead of razzaq

Well... that would be replacing a credible no 6 batsman with a no 11... but cricinfo seem to think that is on the cards (though only as a radical option if conditions should suit).

Razzaq seems the more obvious solution given that Pakistan lead in the series: his bowling is adequate as a 3rd seamer and he adds consideraby to the batting: the odds on batting the WI out of the game have to be significantly increased with him at 7 and Kamran Akmal down at 8.

[gangstacocacola]

however racheal, on these flat pitches pakistan would be suited to have a 3rd specialist seamer. also he is left handed. razzaq is not in good form with the bat or ball. we need to get 20 wickets and he will help us more than razaq. a promising left arm seamer. i think he deserves his chance. just look at his average. 18.84 i think it is.

[Mr Hutt]

yah but come to think of it now we didnt have em in the last test did we... we managed to get 20 wickets just fine. Razzaq does give us more options down the order

[Rachael]

The second Test is underway... with the team news grabbing the headlines: Lara announced Ramnaresh Sarwan and Fidel Edwards had been dropped!

The teams are:

Pakistan 1 Imran Farhat, 2 Mohammad Hafeez, 3 Younis Khan, 4 Mohammad Yousuf, 5 Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), 6 Shoaib Malik, 7 Abdul Razzaq, 8 Kamran Akmal (wk), 9 Shahid Nazir, 10 Umar Gul, 11 Danish Kaneria

West Indies 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Daren Ganga, 3 Runako Morton, 4 Brian Lara (capt), 5 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 6 Dwayne Bravo, 7 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 8 Dave Mohammed, 9 Daren Powell, 10 Corey Collymore, 11 Jerome Taylor.

Scorecard: http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/pakvw...ch/257766.html

[Maranello]

Originally Posted by Rachael

The second Test is underway... with the team news grabbing the headlines: Lara announced Ramnaresh Sarwan and Fidel Edwards had been dropped!

The latter is not unexpected, but the former is a bit of a surprise! Morton is Sarwan's replacement and has been given his 5th test cap.

[Maranello]

Originally Posted by Rachael

Well... that would be replacing a credible no 6 batsman with a no 11

A test average of 28 hardly makes Razzaq a 'credible' #6 Rachael!

Also, Razzaq does not bat at 6 for Pakistan; his natural position is at 8, after Akmal (test average: 30) at 7.

[Rachael]

Originally Posted by Maranello

A test average of 28 hardly makes Razzaq a 'credible' #6 Rachael!

Yes and no: this current Pakistan side is rather blessed with so called 'all-rounders'... with Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Hafeez and Kamran Akmal all deserving the tag. That said... Abdul Razzaq, rather like Shaun Pollock, has always looked as if he COULD bat at 6 - and let's face it.... if you take the one purple patch of 2004 out of the equasion... he's averaging almost as highly as Flintoff!

[Maranello]

Yes, I agree that Razzaq has the technique and the temperament to bat at 6 - in a parallel universe, Pakistan would have built their test team around him for a decade. However, he is not there yet, and given his progress over the last few years (or the lack of it!) I don't see how he can ever get there.

Oh and I wouldn't categorise Hafeez as an all-rounder: he is in the side as an opener; the fact that he can bowl a bit (like Gayle) should be irrelevant to the selection process. Similarly, Shoaib Malik should be judged on whether he is a credible #6; his under-utilised off-spin is never going to win him too many plaudits.