Probables for Pakistan's tour of South Africa announced

25 probables have been named for the Pakistan tour of South Africa. No real surprises here.

I doubt all 4 openers would be making the trip, but they might as well, since the selectors like rotating them. I hope Farhat doesn't accompany the squad though. He may have scraped together a few runs against the West Indies, but there was nothing attractive about his game play. If he doesn't get selected, Salman Butt will probably take his place. Salman did well against Australia on their bouncy wickets 2 years back. Hameed is probably going to go, though with Inzi, MoYo and Younis returning, he will either be the opener or won't play. The middle order has no space for him in either format. I am in favor of putting Hameed as an opener. I think he's a lot better than Farhat, and has the capability to score big. Farhat seems to lose focus once he crosses 50. Though, as I have mentioned before, Pakistan has chosen so many openers in the past few years, that I have numbed myself to any choice. Just choose 2 and lets get on with it.

Zulqarnain Haider has been named and invited to the training camp. There is no doubt that he probably being conditioned to take over Kamran's position after Akmal retires or isn't in favor anymore. I think its great that the selectors are thinking ahead and also giving this young lad the opportunity to train with the senior players and get some exposure to Woolmer and the coaching staff. Secondly it might spur Akmal to concentrate more. After a dismal English summer with both the gloves and the bat, a little heat and pressure on him won't do him any harm.

Asim Kamal and Faisal Iqbal are the middle order additions. One of them should definitely play in the test matches. My vote is for Asim as he did well against South Africa on his debut, is a compact player and, more importantly puts a price on his wicket. Faisal is talented and I'd like to see him in the ODI's.

The problem with the pacemen is that now we have a lot of choice. In Shoaib and Asif's absence, Umar Gul, Nazir, Rana have really shown that they aren't just fill-in-the-gap bowlers, but genuine wicket taking pacemen. Gul, in particular, has been a persoanl favorite of mine, since he bowled Laxman in Lahore, 2 years back. He is a shoe-in for both formats.

From PCB.com.pk...
Openers

Imran Farhat
Mohammad Hafeez
Yasir Hameed
Salman Butt

Middle Order
Younis Khan
Mohammad Yousuf
Inzamam-ul-Haq
Faisal Iqbal
Asim Kamal

Allrounders
Abdul Razzaq
Shahid Afridi
Shoaib Malik
Yasir Arafat

Spinners
Danish Kaneria
Abdur Rehman

Pace bowlers
Shoaib Akhtar
Mohammad Asif
Shahid Nazir
Naved-ul-Hasan
Umar Gul
Mohammad Sami
Iftikhar Anjum
Shabbir Ahmed

Keepers
Kamran Akmal
Zulqarnain Haider