Pakistan vs Sri Lanka, 1st Test, Karachi, Feb 21-25

so according to this Manzoor will play...

may be they can play all 3 of them(Manzoor, Butt AND A Shahzad)

Reportedly, Afridi is seriously considering to retire from test cricket after he was left out of Pak team for the first test.

This would be his 2nd retirement from test cricket or is it 3rd?

SG wrote:Reportedly, Afridi is seriously considering to retire from test cricket after he was left out of Pak team for the first test.

This would be his 2nd retirement from test cricket or is it 3rd?

hmmm
urdu newspaper is reporting the complete opposite.

" Naomeed niehie, jub bhee mooka mila perform karoon ga" Afridi

Which translates to
" I have NOT given up hope and will perform when ever given a chance"

My interest in cricket has taken a SEVERE hit in the last 14 months of "no show"....in the last 2 months in particular i have been having a "life" and at times have not even bothered to check the scores(thats is SERIOUSLY saying something)....

HENCE

I am looking forward to this test match to revive my interest in the game which i have passionately followed for at least 16 out of the 22 years of my life.

I am preparing to slay the fatted calf.

OP Tipping wrote:I am preparing to slay the fatted calf.

Inzi and Ranatunga in attendance?

According to CI Faisal Iqbal is all set to play AHEAD of Kamal and Alam.

Younis Khan, Pakistan's captain, does not feel that the absence of experienced players will be a deterrent to his side's first Test series in over a year. Pakistan play their first Test in over 14 months from Saturday, and have experienced a serious dearth of cricket in the country because of security reasons but Mahela Jayawardene, Younis' opposite number, expected a tough tour.

"It's true that a few seniors are not with us but they won't be with us forever," Younis said. "It's not possible that Shoaib Akhtar remains with us or I will be there, [Shahid] Afridi is not with us; we have to deal with this. I don't think it will make much difference.

"We are playing after 14 months ... when I last made a comeback after 13 months [in 2004] I scored a century in Karachi and we won the match," he said. "It was also against Sri Lanka. We have played some international cricket in recent times and that too against Sri Lanka. The boys have played first-class cricket and have an idea of the longer version of the game."

While Pakistan have yet to name their final ThXI, Younis confirmed that Asim Kamal, Fawad Alam and Ahmed Shahzad were not in the reckoning.at means Pakistan are likely to open with Salman Butt and Khurram Manzoor - both specialist openers, as Younis endorsed.
"Test cricket has changed [so] you can't use makeshift openers," he said. "In the past Kamran Akmal has done that, he saved the Kolkata Test for us. But I believe makeshift openers should not be tried in Test matches."

Umar Gul, Yasir Arafat, Sohail Khan and rookie Mohammad Talha feature in Pakistan's 12-man squad. "Umar is in top form, Sohail has improved a lot, Talha is our future and a proper athlete, and Arafat can bowl in any conditions," Younis said, adding that the playing XI would be decided based on the nature of the pitch in Karachi.

The match is the second-last of Jayawardene's captaincy and Younis felt it could spur him on. "Jayawardene is struggling a bit but he could make a comeback, maybe with this match [the first Test]," he said. "It's in his mind that he is going after this series so he will definitely try to fight back and leave on a good note. We can't take them [Sri Lanka] lightly, we have to play with our planning, whatever my planning is."


Jayawardene believed Younis would marshal his troops well, even with his limited captaincy experience, and would provide a stiff challenge. "Younis has handled it [captaincy] in the past so you can't call him a new captain and he is probably their most experienced player in the team right now," he said. "I'm sure he is quite capable of handling things. For us, it's all about having a gameplan against Pakistan and executing it. So that's something we are working on."

Jayawardene was unwilling to downplay Pakistan's chances, even though they were not at their strongest. "Both teams have exceptional cricketers and we thoroughly enjoyed our Test cricket over the last 12 months playing home and away," Jayawardene said. "We have some good wins against top sides and we would love to continue that."

It has been a hectic schedule for Sri Lanka for the last 12 months or so, but Jayawardene dismissed any talk of fatigue playing a part in the upcoming series. "Fortunately for us, there was quite a bit of one-day cricket for us, but the Test team is quite different," he said. "There are only four or five guys who played in one-day cricket, so most of the guys are fresh and it's good for us as a team. Once you are playing a Test you have to get into the mindset. I honestly don't feel fatigue is going to play a part in our preparations for the Tests."

PlanetPakistan wrote:My interest in cricket has taken a SEVERE hit in the last 14 months of "no show"....in the last 2 months in particular i have been having a "life" and at times have not even bothered to check the scores(thats is SERIOUSLY saying something)....

.

Then you certainly missed some of the most exciting tests. The tests involving Australia and India are mostly interesting, always. But this time England and SA joined too and we had some superb tests in last 14 months.

Chandan wrote:

PlanetPakistan wrote:My interest in cricket has taken a SEVERE hit in the last 14 months of "no show"....in the last 2 months in particular i have been having a "life" and at times have not even bothered to check the scores(thats is SERIOUSLY saying something)....

.

Then you certainly missed some of the most exciting tests. The tests involving Australia and India are mostly interesting, always. But this time England and SA joined too and we had some superb tests in last 14 months.

did watch most of those games....just skipped almost ALL ODIs and almost every thing(including tests) in the last 2 months.

The last ODI which i properly watched was PAK's 3rd ODI vs WI.

p.s i thought IND vs AUS games in the OCT series were quite boring other than a few spells from ZAK and Ishant

http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/pakvsl/content/current/story/391544.html

This series could be - for many Aussie observers - a bit like a return to the days of old, where Pakistan fielded teams with many players previously unheard of in Australia. It's been that long since they've played Test cricket.

Good luck to them.

Forgot to mentiomn the number of players Pakistan have lost to the ICL as well.

So ... how comes they don't play at Rawalpindi anymore?

OP, they're lucky if they get to play anywhere at the moment.