[al Furqaan]

as far as pure hitters go, they're the best we've had barring shakib/tamim.

when i first started following cricket, our usual starts were 40-4 after 15 overs with hannan, javed, bashar leading the way. nowadays, our platform is decent, occaisionally solid. 160-4 after 35 overs is not a terrible launch pad. but riyad and naeem just won't cut it. especially since we don't have a Oram or Razzaq to blast 40 off 15.

i suggest we bring in the AAA battery back. they don't have to all play in each innings. but we need at least 2 of them to be pinch hitters at the end. if they fail, who cares, we will get 220 regardless. and with Raj and Shakib (and mash if healthy) maybe we can defend these 220-250 socres like we did at Bristol, and like we might do today against NZ.

we all know how ash can hit. we remember Aftab blasting that 6 of gillespie, and we remember Alok blasting Ishant Sharma all over the place in Karachi or lahore.

bring them back. bat them at 6-8. its time we scored runs in the batting PP and the last 10-12 overs. something we haven't done since that match in NZ where we started 25-5.

and mushy should bat at 3 or 4. no lower than that.