Very right.

Off course, you all know where loyalties of Mr. Akram are!

Sorry Wasim. I disagree with you. I have no issue with Misbah, the batsman, but as a captain he is a failure. His team selection, defensive tactics in one days (while fielding and to some extent his slow batting) and not able to motivate young player are some of the issues. Misbah, the batsman and the captain for test is probably okay. But not Misbah the captain for one dayers. You might argue that no one is available to replace him, but this is where selectors and administrators will need to take a brave decision. It could be Afridi the bowler (if his bowling form returns), Yunus or Hafeez, (the bowler and may be a middle order batsman).

Exactly. Misbah should not be punished for the poor performance of parchi players like Malik and Farhat.

Misbah SHOULD NOT BE IN THE TEAM...please take him out....

If Misbah is retained as Captain then it will be a disastrous move of PCB. It is his mentality of defensive approach that is ruining the team. You cannot exonerate him from the current blame of taking Shoaib Malik along with the team in place of some other talent. He is always consulted about the team by the selectors before announcing the final 15 and it is he who agreed with Farhat, Malik and Akmal. He is reluctant to give young cricketers a chance and hence now we do not have replacement cricketers available. Look at Sri Lanka, the Sr. players Sanga and Jaywardene are still playing so why cant we keep Misbah as batsman and let Younis be the Captain. I think Younis has couple of more years left in him and can be there till 2015 WC. In the mean time we groom some other player to take over from Younis. We need a change and change means the thought process of how to approach a game which is introduced by Misbah has to change. Please replace Misbah as captain but retain him as a player.

Thanks a lot, Waseem Akram. I am glad, you have spoken so clearly about Misbah. In my views, he is the strongest column, holding the crumbling roof of the current cricket team's weak building.

When this man says something, Chairman of Selectors better sit-up, listen, learn and implement.

Right on... great to see legends support Misbah. Who cares when empty tins make a lot of noise.

Misbah should stay on but not as Skipper. His defensive mindset and favorable team selection has led us to this debacle. Misbah was our best ODI players in the SA ODI Series which we lost 3-2 and again in CT2013 was our best batsmen/fielder. So he deserves a place in the 11 but not as captain. New skipper, new mindset, new set of ideas and spark/enthusiasm is required. If I had to pick, I would pick Sarfaraz Ahmed as skipper/wicketkeeper and build the team around him. He has international captain-ing experience in the U19 World Cup. Vision for the future, but we PCB lack that very much "vision". Look at what South Africa did with Grame Smith after the 2003 World Cup. He wasn't a regular in the team but they saw something in him and look at his success and 100 tests as Skipper.

please make shoiab malik as captain, imran farhat as vice captain and kamran as regular keeper. they had lot of cricket left in them.

Misbah's style of play suits Test Cricket. But as a gentleman, he should retire now with honour. If retained, he should be skipper for Test Side. Afridi to be Captain for ODIs and Abdur Razzaq to be Captain of T20. Hafeez should be de-elevated. He is not fit to be Captain.

Misbah MUST be protected and purchee based players and chief selector in particular should be sacked disgracefully with immediate effect.

honestly, with emotions & biases aside - this whole team needs to go. There's not a single player worth his place in the team right now. Much can be said in favor of Misbah's bating and yes he does play an anchor's role both in test & ODI but his defensive mindset easily shifts the momentum in other team's favor. And then we have an entire list of bating line up, starting from M. Hafeez (guy's been playing over 9 yrs as opener yet a pathetic bating avg of ~ 24), Imran Farhat, K. Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, Younis Khan - the only thing consistently common among these "seniors" is their consistent failure as our mainstream batsmen. An occasional decent knock here n there does not earn you a perpetual place in the team but only in Pakistan would you find such below par players routinely appearing in the team. In any other country, they would have been shown door long time - and yes that includes Younis as well - look at his performance in the last 4-5 years, despite being the senior most batsman in our team. Its sad , pathetic and frustrating that we remain stuck with these losers all the time instead of having some courage to start builiding team anew.

Misbah is a good batman but a poor captain. He failed to motivate the other batsmen in the team and was very unwise in calling the match with india as a matter of our pride.

@Haq: How can someone who is not even in the playing 11 be the captain ??? U19 is a different ballgame, yes he should come in place of Akmal, remove farhat,malik permanently and get in the best domestic players you have.Also Greame Smith was always a strong batsmen even if new.

Sure Misbah must stay n the team but there should be no room for shoaib all of the akmals and many other non performers and Mr.whatmore must go as well we have great retired players they can always be requested to coach the team no more imported junk at any cost.

Folks heres the problem im having. See if this makes any sense...so much talent with our U19 team so much talent in the country and yet we decide to play name brand players. I mean these old farts are done!!! My opinion i would scrap every player from this team and bring in the youths also i would pay more attention to our batting side

@usman: Than who should be the captain? Hafeez, a selfish player, who score runs only in T20? We all know why he score runs in T-20 - to secure his captaincy.

At long last I hear a person talking sense. Wasim Akram is absolutely right. Misbah is not only a trusworthy batsman, he is a cool headed, talented, well mannered very good planner of the game. He opossesses most of the qualities that the captain of a team ought to have. He must be retained as captain and his advice/suggestions with respect to the selection should be taken seriously.

Its funny when every one praises Misbah for his batting heroics. We win more matches when he under performs or not in the team, than when he does perform and in the team.

As long as Misbah s there, team will continue to have a defenive mentality. Misbah will keep bringing his team mates like Shoib Malik back. Hafeez will keep opening. There must be a two year plan in place to find 3-4 new batsman and give Ahmed Shezad, Umer Akmal, Asad Shafiq and Haris Sohail a good supervised run.

Well said Wasim bhai.

Sorry Wasim Akram, Misbah should go. He hasn't got the skills, and temper, to lead a team. His unispiring. Compare him with any capitan. All the players love Indian capitan, Srilankan's capitan leads by example, Bangladesh's capitan etc. Name anyone and you'll see that they got something about them which makes them different and good enough to lead. Those who support the Cool head of Misbah, forget that such cool heads are good for some office work but not for playing cricket. He hasn't got the passions, the zeal, and the hunger for victory to inspire his team mates. He hasn't got the heart to take bold decsions, and experiment with batting or bowling order.

I know many would disagree but if we really want to groom our young players and team for WC 2015, Younis Khan should be names as captain of both Test and ODI sides. and install a young player as his deputy for the time being. This was we will have a captain all set to take over when Younis retires. As for T20 side, hafeez should be demoted and our ODI teams vice captain should be names as captain.

Any one please watch Misbah's run chasing innings against India in last world cup and this champion's trophy. He blocked too many balls, was unable to rotate strikes and only opened up when the RRR reached 10 or more runs an over. He then hit few biggies but got out without giving any positive results. If you had watched Miandad, Salim Malik, Inzi, Yousaf and even Younas, they did quite the opposite and had won matches for Pakistan. They took singles at will, rotated strikes frequently and build up momentum and than went for big hits and stayed till the finish. When Misbah picked Shoaib, Farhat and few others for English conditions, I knew it why he was doing it. " PHUDO COMPANY TAJA HAVALDAAR"(in punjabi) |

I strongly disagree with Wasim Akram. Misbah played innings for himself. how many times Pakistan won due to his batting performance? Yes, he did lost winning match. Like famous T 20 and World Cup matches. he is old and not capable to last for next world cup and we will have vaccumn suddenly, its better to have Fawad Alam Captain of National team. He is a captain of Natinal Bank team. Doing great with his bat and one of the best fielder in current Pakistan players. Fawad Alam has the highest First Class average in Pakistani history. he has the lowest dot ball percentage of Pakistani batsmen in this century http://dawn.com/news/1018653/how-pakistan-can-resolve-its-batting-crisis

If misbah can play at age of 40 then what's wrong with wasimbhai! Bring wasimbhai back to the team!

@Rogers Evans: Team will be unable to score 30 without Misbah! He understands the weakness of his team batting line up!Other players need to improve,not him.

Misbah should be held responsible for the humiliation in Champions Trophy. Being the skipper he hand picked the team based on connections. How can he justify inclusion of Shoaib Malik and Imran farhat in the team despite consistent failures in last few years. This team was extremely lucky to win against minnows such as Ireland. It would have been further humiliation to lose series against the Ireland. Essentially Pakistan has been playing with nine players against opponent's eleven since Shoaib and Farhat predictably failed to deliver in any of the matches. Misbah must be sacked from captaincy. Also the selectors should be held responsible and sacked from their posts. India has done well by including new faces and Pakistan needs to give young players a chance. If India can drop Sehwag, Ghambhir, Yuvraj Singh then why Pakistan cant drop senior players who have failed consistently. Pakistan A team will do better than current team. Team must be be picked solely on performance, not on reputations or connections with PCB officials. Shameful performance by Pakistan team and selectors. Misbah has poor judgement in picking team and his captaincy record in one day is poor. He can win against Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, Scotland but cannot win against any country ranked in top 7 ICC rating. It is time to remove him from burden of captaincy in one day games. He can play as a team member.

If Misbah remains captain then Shoaib Malik and Imran Farhat will keep playing. Why Misbah kept playing these players despite their poor performance. Keeping Misbah as captain will be a big mistake. He would not allow chance to new batsmen because if they perform well then Misbah may also lose his place in the team. He wants to keep useless players so that people appreciate his batting. I have not seen Misbah win matches by his performance. He played Omer Ameen at number 7 and by them the run rate is already around 8. He did same with Umar Akmal and Ehsan Adil. He intentionally tried to ruin career of young players. Misbah can play as team member. Look at his record against established one day teams.

Totally agree with Wasim. Misbah is the only reason that Pakistan has not made a complete fool of itself. He is the best batsman and fielder the team has, even at this age he puts his younger colleagues to shame. Above all he is an educated and thinking captain. He knows his limited resources and fights accordingly. People need to have realistic expectations. This nation needs to recognize ability and persist with support. Misbah needs to be the nucleus ( along with Yunis) around which a new team should be built... much like Bobby Simpson built Australia after coming back from retirement and nurtured people like Alan Border and all.

Keep Misbah and you will confirm Shoaib Malik and Imran Farhat for next world cup. And I can assure you same results as you got in Champions trophy. It is the captain who decides who plays a match and who sits on the benches. Don't blame batting if Misbah keeps playing Shoaib Malik and Imran Farhat.

Keep Misbah and you will confirm Shoaib Malik and Imran Farhat for next world cup. And I can assure you same results as you got in Champions trophy. It is the captain who decides who plays a match and who sits on the benches. Don't blame batting if Misbah keeps playing Shoaib Malik and Imran Farhat.

Wasim has to be out of his mind to support Misbah. After such a dismal performance, he still wants Misbah as the skipper?

Wasim Akram Sahib your analysis are always excellent and very much appreciated but I think its about time for the older players to retire and let the new ones come in. We are frustrated to see Pakistani Cricket Team in such a pitiable state.

Agree with Wasim Akram , the only player who saved Pakistan from crumbling was Misbah.....the others like Shoaib should retire from playing cricket and spend more time being useful as a husband to Sania, the other useless performance was from Akmal who might be useful as a male cheer leader.. They needed gusto Afridi to bring some life on the pitch, even Razzak would have done better to give younger player some motivation.

Q: How many centuries Misbah has scored in ODI's A: None so far

Does not sound like positive suggestion, by retaining Misbah one cannot expect any change in the fortune of Pakistan cricket team, if young and budding cricketers were given due and timely opportunity players like Misbah, Hafeez, Sohaib, Akmal brothers and Cheema would not be in the team. The foremost thing is to reorganize the Board and Selection committee with honest and professional individuals without any political interference, otherwise cricket will suffer like hockey and squash.

No doubt Wasim is right. Misbah is the only player who performed consistently in last few years. But there is one negative issue with Misbah too. He pressurizes the selectors to keep his favourits in the team. One of them whom Misbah trys to keep hanging is the biggest culprit Shoaib Malik. I would say yes keep Misbah but bring in some strong innovative selectors.

Fawad Alam should be brought back to the team, at least ODI and test cricket.

only sensible thing this guy spoke of in recent times. forget about selfish and self-centered Wasim Akram and his advice, just keep this guy away from managing cricketing affairs. he is good in getting you bowlers but remember he may again create a divide in upcoming new look team. as he had done same during his captaincy when he made sit Waqar outside just to deny him wickets, in which he succeeded successfully. nevertheless, he was the best and finest bowler I have ever seen in modern day cricket .... am talking about fast bowlers since 1960s onward. he was a rare talent may be we will never see again in our lifetime. nevertheless Misbah should be retained in Tests and ODIs as captain ... and Hafeez to be seen nowhere in tests at least, please.... since he is neither test material nor had the guts and brains for captaincy.... my choice for T20 captaincy should be either Nasir Jamshed or Saeed Ajmal.... . lastly i wont care for any negative remarks if i get for being so rude on Akram. he deserves this, since he was the one who preferred money over national pride and opted out of QF 1996 vs India. Shameless character.

@Sam: please name the talent which you are mentioning in U19 and in the country.

@a: you and your wasim bhai are both stupids and senseless guys.

W. Akram sorry sir, Misbah must go, he slow, and have not motivated team, kick out Watmore, beating couch (with girl Friend) Bowling couch, plus players kick out Hafeez (guy's been playing over 9 yrs as opener yet a pathetic bating avg of ~ 24), Imran Farhat, K. Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, Younis Khan ( bring fresh U-19 boys and ( no couch a committee consisting (Zahir Abbas, Inzamul Haq, Muhammad Mushtaq, Mushtaq Ahmed, Wasim Akram, Sarfaraz Nawaz Iqbal Yusuf Present CS) they trained U-19 players for 2015 - or we say Good Bye to Cricket. Gang of G-9 players leading Hafiz are cheating Pak cricket.

Misbah is too old to play any further in competitive game. Find a cool player & groom him for captaincy for next two years. Captain needs to be tactician.Other batsmen are well known and to be dropped. But as long as favoritism is accepted , poor showing will continue. The selectors should go home.

I don't know about captain but Misbah as a batsman has justified his place in the team did you guy's noticed we needed a leader a gritty character on the field which was missing big time,someone with an aggressive approach and that person is Afridi you can say whatever you want but we need him for another 2 years just cant replace the whole batting lineup at least need couple of experience guy's and of course Waseem Akram as our coach

nice one @mohit:

Best possible advice from Wasim. Thank you skipper!

At first,thank the dawn.com to give so easily comment about any regard,especially in this issue.Really,I have been waiting from uncountable times to say in any -ve issues of Pakistan.when I see,listen & know any harmful news of Pakistan,I breakdown,similarly in any good news I wake up.But why? I think,Muslims are bhi bhi all around the world.However no other communities are so.Hens why could we not do all matters in a body? Now come to the point,I think,Pakistan cricket should do what Wasim akram says.No need to change coach,skipper & so on frequently if any failure occurred.It is well known that,there are no lack of cricket merits in Pakistan,but where are the merits of Pakistan in top level of Int,l cricket?I think,they are not getting enough **advantages,prevelages & nursing**.Another highlighted matters are that,interpersonal relation of cricketers are very low & lack of patient.You will have to build strong relationship & u should have patience..Pls.look at India,I think in all aspects they had crossed u.why?In same time both U & India gained freedom,but now see, where U & where India.why?I think,U should remember that,country interest is greater than personal interest.

Most people failed to recognize that statements like these do not let the selectors and PCB management to do their job. WA has no rights to make statements like these. He should comment on only the technical merits. Let the selectors do their job, please

Wasim, how would you feel if you are head selector and some outsider keeps prompting what to do. You are working as a technical expert and not part of the management so please so not make statements like this which influence the selection process. Having a private opinion is one thing but using a media mega phone is root cause of all the ills in Pakistan. Just my opinion. Let the selectors do their job.You will get your turn and then you can do whatever you want.

**Ahmad shahzad should be given a skipper role**. he is young and enthusiastic. There is no one in the side who can be given a skipper role. We need a young captain who can be given a captaincy for a longer period. Grame Smith is a very good example. Misbah should be retained in the batting squad.

@mohit: In addition to these three, try to find a way to bring Muhammad Asif and Salman Butt back in the team.

Misbah/selectors are over conscious with batting line up, Time to bring young best talent up in the order for odi. 1. Jamshed 2. Ahmad Shazad 3. Umer Akmal 4. Umer Amin 5. Misbah 6. Hafeez 7. Wicketkeeper/batsman 8. Wahab/Hamad Azam 9. Gul/Junaid 10. Ajmal 11 Irfan

For God sake Wasim bhai, he is 39. Let him retire.

It is time for Misbah to go. He is too old and Pakistan must think about developing leadership skills for future instead of betting on an old horse. Let's put it that way: Pakistan is losing with Misbah, if it loses with a younger captain at least the person will gain some experience. Misbah is just making his place in history. If Misbah is patriotic, he'll himself leave the post honorably.

i think misbah should left the captaincy because of age factor. he is 39,so there is very little chance that he would captain in 2015. but, this is also true that no other players in pakistan are playing above average. the only player look for ajmal. so, he should be given the captancy of pakistan team. pakistan team should revive again. and please do not say afridi back. he is neither a good spinner now nor good batsman. as a spinner, he is 3rd spinner after ajmal and hafeez. and next world cup is in Australia. so, he is useless for team. the new team should be....if misbah plays....then he should open the team. so, he can take all the time and narrates the team..opener--misbah and jamshed. umar akmal is quite talented and he should be given chance at number 3. safiq should be at 4. hafeez and razzaq should be at 5 and 6. any new wicket keeper at 7. waib riaz at 8, ajmal at 9, juanaid at 10 and irfan is 11. this is best combination. so, pakistan team can suffle as per need in middle order. if misbah retires and pakistan should look for new opener. both hafeez and kamran is worst choice there.

If you keep Misbah,you will see Shoaib,Hafeez,Akmal,Farhat,etc for ever and ever and ever. Do you want that?

WASEEM SIRJEE, No harm is retaining Misbah as skipper. There is no other replacement currently in the team, Please stop taking Hafeez name as next Skipper. We have to get a brand new Vice captain for sure...to me the perfect choice would be Umar Akmal (The best modern day Pakistani batsman after Yousuf to represent Pakistan) Misbah has to change all together his Very Very defensive approach. I read an aritcle about dhoni, claiming Younster are the main cause of making India in to an excellent agressive side. The Coach and support staff has to convince Misbah to change his timid game attitude. The Yougster would do the rest. Misbah we have observe a big change in your personal attitude towards your batting...please upgrade your software for the captainship as well... Let younsgters in the team. Haris sohail, Umar Akman, Umar Amin, Hammad Azam and Mohd Rizwan and give them full confidence and responsibility.. they will perform...

Make Misbah coach of the team

The bitter truth is Pakistan is lacking talent in their batting line-up and no batsmen can be talked in same breath as Inzi, Anwar, Youhana, Sohail, Miandad etc. Wasim is partly right that Misbah's future needs to be secured. But as a captain I am not sure. He is more of a Dravid mould, where batsmen can build innings around him. Of the current lot, Jamshed looks a good bet; but he needs to work on his fitness though. Cheers!

It is funny to read that some are disagreeing with Wasim Akram. Like they know better LoL

WA is dead wrong. Time has come to think rationally rather than emotionally. It time to use Nur Khan Approach. Select a hybrid team of young players and senior players on merit. Time has come to show door to sluggish and selfish players like Misbah, Hafeez, Malik, Wahab et al. No matter what format of game they play, they play like a test match. It is imperative to first fix PCB. It needs to be headed by professionals not political appointees like ZA, IB, and DNA etc. Then form separate teams for test, ODI, and 20/20.

MISBAH MUST GO! only making runs is not the game , its the whole starategy and captainship. he is the slowest run maker and then gets out. even if he makes some run he doesnt contribute to victory.

No Way!!!. Misbah is responsible to a large extent for the team's abysmal attitude towards batting. He has single-handedly lost so many matches for Pakistan. Because of him players have forgotten how to play their natural game and everyone has learned to go into a shell and never come out of it. Even the next pegged Inzimam, Nasir Jamshed has forgotten to bat and keeps adding dot balls. Pak needs an aggressive captain.

Change is good and in this case change is must!!! But first and foremost change the Board and Selection Committee, there are dinosaurs sitting there who have their own mindset and in some cases their own vendettas. Unless we have fresh mindset right at the top, we will have the same faces coming over and over again. 2ndly we need to give confidence to the new board and the selected players that they time and chance to settle in and show their worth (without hte sword of being axed hanging on them) Lastly we as fans (and better experts than experts themselves) should have patience and give support to the hard decision that i hope will be taken.

Wasim Akram Bhaijaan, we love you & we will keep loving you all our life, I disagree with you about Misbah he is the final nail in the coffin, he makes sure that Pakistan looses the match, watching him bat is like throwing up he along with Shoib Malik, Imran Farhat, Kamran Akmal, shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzak their days are over for ODI & T20, we need to rebuild our team with new players & of course New Management .At present Pakistani team Consist of & egg laying Hens & 4 roosters. Pakistan need you in the selection thankyou

pakistan should separate all three forms of cricket, it will give more players a chance, people like misbah can play in tests for whole of their lives,but right now i think he is 39, we should show him the door, its a cruel world, even the legends of the game were treated in a very bad way although they were a lot younger than misbah, misbah cannot be inducted in the hall of fame, he not a legend, he is just a time passer, we need to groom someone who is serious about the game, age doesn't count much.

@mohit: so that India can win against pakistan

I respect Wasim Akram and admire him and being an Australian, I stll feel that Pakistan needs a well balanced team and attacking players in the team. Misbah is a very defensive captain and should play as a batsman down in the batting order but should not lead the team. What Pakistan needs now is to groom young players and produce batsman of high calibre - these batsman should put a high value to their wickets and should not throw their wickets away. My suggestion to PCB is that there is an academy in Australia where young players are trained well to enhance their skills and talent. Pakistan should select 6 batsmen for that training and would like even suggest their names if that can help: Umar Akmal - needs training to change his approach to the game and he should model himself on Sehwag or Dhawan or virat Kohli of India. Imran Nazir - talented batsman but training will enhance his approach to the game. Ahmed Shahzad - a good batsman but needs more training - should be agressive but must have skills to defend well. Asad Shafiq Fawad Alam Coaches will not help much, it is the training and dedication to the game which makes you a good player.

@araaz: Often because he has put the country's needs (e.g. avoiding a single when he was close to his century, just so that the strike would not go to M. Irfan in this series) before his own. I fully support a player whose total in a match is often more than the entire aggregate of the other batsmen put together!

@sadia: if this team presents then misbah could be hero. this series we have seen no foot work at all of the players.they came to play tesy match lol

Yes, so he can derail Pakistan COMPLETELY especially in World Cup 2015 - ONCE AGAIN!

@Nadeem: Answer of your question is in my comment. We need a captain who is Sr. and is respected by all the current playing cricketers. That person is none other than Younis. He has won us 20/20 and with players who were starting their careers like Mohammed Amir and Shahzeb. He has proven to think out of box in situations as he changed the batting order of Afridi in 20/20 and started with Razaq the bowling attack in the final which proved so effective. If you all remember in last Champions trophy he also changed the batting order of Shoaib Malik against India and after initial jitters he responded with a crucial century. He is very well respected by all the young cricketers - read Ahmed Shahzad praise of him for improving his behaviour about the game. In Pakistan Society Sr. dont like to be superseded by a Jr. So bringing a Jr. player to lead the Sr. wont work as it has proven to be disastrous in the past (Miandad and Shoab Malik - Sr. revolted against them). In the current situation making Hafeez captain of odi and test team will be disastrous as he cannot justify his position in the team. He has to be sent back to the Academy in Lahore and asked to work on his technique to handle the swinging deliveries. I dont know how to put these thoughts of making Younis captain to PCB as we cannot make sweeping changes,. We have to make a Sr. player captain with the aim of bringing young blood to the team.

Wasim Akram talks sense. You can't blame the captain completely for the team's dismal performance. The Bowlers did well in the tournament, but it was the batting that let us down. Which means whatever tactics Misbah was implementing while fielding, they seemed to work to some extent. The guy is experienced, can somewhat bat (I said somewhat!), and can strategize on the field.....oh and let's not forget, you still need a captain who can speak English. People talk of sacking Watmore, kicking out the failures in the team and revamping the entire PCB, but another thing that lacks in Pakistani cricket is stability. I remember the good old days when Saeed Anwar, Aamir Sohail, Ijaz Ahmad, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Moin Khan, Waqar Younis, Wasim Akram and Shoaib Akhtar were parmanent members of the team, and no one fiddled around with them. Every series and every tournament, these guys would be our ambassadors on the cricket pitch. Sure they would bomb now and then, but often, they would do us proud. This kind of stability has just completely vanished. And now, it's like some curse has been cast on the whole Pakistani batting framework, and every series, it's a new team with guys whom you've never seen or whom you know have failed before. The class of our previous cricketers (including Mohammad Yousuf) is now something of the past, and it's extremely sad. If Pakistan was blessed enough to see the likes of these legendary greats represent us in the int'l arena, why are we not blessed now. This whole cricketing fiasco is just demoralizing. I wanna see the same stability back in the team; and the same stroke-making and wicket-taking class of the old days. But I have a feeling this is probably too much to ask for considering the present state of affairs.

Misbah is the best batsman in the current team and must be part of team as batsman for at least three more years. However as a captain he is not suitable for the post as he is very defensive and this defensive mindset is relayed over to other players. At least four batsman in current team should be eliminated: Imran Farhat, Shoaib Malik and Kamran Akmal for good and Hafeez for couple of series until he proves himself as a dependable batsman against strong teams. We cannot afford to play people outside their designated roles; Hafeez and Afridi are needed as batsman and should not be given a chance as bowler only. Team needs to have five dedicated solid batsman, two allrounders and four bowlers with three seamers and one spinner in Ajmal. For batsman: Harris Sohail, Umar Amin, Shehzad Hasan comes to my mind; Asad Shafiq should be given a long run too. Mistakes should not be repeated for calling upon Younus or Afridi; in my opinion they are done for ODI matches and it will be a serious mistake to think about them. For allrounders: Hammad Azam and Fawad Alam comes to my mind; Hammad is a good batsman and can be a useful seamer like Razzaq; Fawad Alam is a good steady batsman in the middle order can be a handy left arm bowler. In the end, my wish list may not come true as the selectors are not picking the players on merit. Contacts and influence have been the dominant factors so far in terms of players selection. However there in no harm in throwing these ideas; may be some of them get a nod of selectors. My wish list of 15 players Shehzad Hasan Nasir Jamshed Harris Sohail Umar Amin MisbaH ul Haq Hammad Azam or Fawad Alam Umar Akmal (wicketkeeper batsman) Wahab Riaz Saeed Ajmal Mohammad Irfan Junaid Khan Asad Shafiq Faisal Iqbal Abdul Razzak

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Who other than Misbah is an automatic choice in the current Pakistan team? Younus, Hafeez and Afridi are only performing in patches. All other batsman and bowlers are young and still trying to establish themselves. People asking for Misbah's ouster should compare Australia's situation. They are as poor as Pakistan but they are not blaming their captain for it. We need to series talent hunt for batting in Pakistan and then groom them under properly and persist with them for sometime. There is no shortcut to success.

The ODI batting averages of leading Pakistani batsmen are as follwing: Misbah: 43.40 Younis Khan: 31.88 M Hafeez: 27.50 Javaid Miandad: 41.70 Inzi; 39.52 M Yousif: 41.71 Win percentages of ODI captains are: Misbah: 61% Afridi: 53% Younis Khan: 37.5% M Yousif: 22% Shoaib Malik: 69% Inzi: 61% I think people really need to get off Misbah's back and realize that he is one of the best players we have had in the past decade or so.