The T-20 World Cup is due to start within couple of weeks in Sri Lanka and with that in mind, Pakistan and Australia are all set to embark on a short tour of the UAE, where both teams will face each other in three ODI’s and the same number of T20s. The contest will serve as a full dress rehearsal for the mega event and will give both Pakistan and Australia a chance to assess their capabilities.
The mysterious Hafeez, who poses as a batting all-rounder yet looks more convincing as a bowling all-rounder has been retained as the T20 captain until 2012 while Misbah, continues to lead the side in ODI’s. There appears to be an underlying theme of preferring experience over youth this time around in the selection process with Kamran Akmal, Abdul Razzaq and Shoaib Malik all making a comebacks. It should be worth noting that the senior Akmal has not played international cricket since the World Cup 2011 and has been selected due to his superior batting skills as compared to his rivals for the spot. However, the question has never been raised that whether he is a better batsman than the others and whether the advantage he offers as a batsman outweigh the disadvantage he puts the team at with his abysmal keeping.
Razzaq and Malik have both provided valuable service in the past and can be more than useful when on song but the latter has been out of tune for a while now while age has caught up with the former. It would not be wrong to say that both have been selected on their reputation rather than their current performances and investing in a talented youngster like Hammad Azam may have been more beneficial. While the aforementioned duo can point to their past, one struggles to justify the selection of Mohammad Sami in the T20 squad unless he comes up with a cunning plan to use his silky smooth looks to lure batsmen into giving away their wickets. The most frustrating thing though is that the talented and in-form Junaid Khan has been left out from the T-20 squad which is slightly confusing considering the lack of quality of our current pace attack. Gul, who has been out of sorts has been ‘rested due to poor form’ for the ODI’s and Pakistani fans will be hoping that the Gul-dozer makes a rejuvenated return to the team otherwise our spin attack will come under immense pressure.
Younis Khan is the other Pathan who is being ‘rested’ for the ODI’s and this could prove to be a blessing in disguise since Khan has been a weak link in the batting line-up for a while now and his omission will give the likes of Asad Shafiq or Azhar Ali a chance to cement their place in the ODI side after giving encouraging performances in test matches. Nasir Jamshed, whose impressive career has been truncated for various reasons, makes a return to both the T-20 and ODI squads after recovering from an injury to the index finger and will give much needed stability and aggression at the top of the order.
The current Australian team is going through a transition phase and while they lack the aura of the Australian teams of the recent past, it would be foolish to consider them or any Australian team as underdogs. Their professional attitude will ensure that the series will be fiercely contested. The squad contains some exciting fast bowlers but considering the conditions in UAE and subsequently Sri Lanka, the Aussie think tank will be hoping that the likes of Xavier Doherty and Brad Hogg deliver consistent match winning performances. The batting line-up for both ODI’s and T-20’s is reasonably strong but how it copes with the threat of our spin bowlers will be the key in determining who comes out on top.
Australia have traditionally held the upper hand over Pakistan but keeping in mind the conditions and the strength of their spin attack, the men in green should provide a stern test to the men from down under. Both sides will have an eye on the bigger prize i.e. the T-20 World Cup and are likely to try out different team combinations before the tournament begins which should make this upcoming series interesting. Taking everything into account, this scribe feels that the Australian side will edge out Pakistan in the T-20’s with the reverse true for the ODI’s.