Combined XI After 2 Tests Author: Analyst Maaz; Views: 1259; Date: 19-02-2013, 03:25;

Combined XI

Smith (C) - The man who has captained his country in 100 test matches. He was dismissed by Gul both times in the series opener outside the off stump to identical deliveries whereas in the 2nd test at Newlands he was out in identical fashion attempting a sweep shot against Saeed Ajmal to be given LBW. Smith has registered a half century in the 4 innings he has had and has been tidy in the slip cordon.

Azhar - 3 of the 4 openers have struggled and as a result I am pushing Azhar to open up. Azhar scored a determined and watchful half century in his previous innings where he batted for 193 deliveries. This is a testimony to his patience, gutsiness and concentration.

Amla - One of the leading run scorers in the series with a couple of half centuries at an impressive lick. He was confident in his method of playing back to Saeed Ajmal, even with the pace, length and sharp spin he gets; Saeed has trapped many batsmen in front when they have been playing back to a sharp turning off spinner which hurries on to the pad with the some appreciable turn. Nevertheless, despite being trapped stone dead in the first innings, Amla stuck to his game plan just like he has done to Swann and Lyon in the recent past.

Younis - His 111 was a masterlcass. I'm not sure how much we can read into him quoting his century in the first innings as his best as he can get carried away in the moment, however it surely must have given him immense pleasure and satisfaction to do it against such an attack in their own backyard as Younis registered his first century in South Africa.

Misbah - He has crossed the 40 mark on 2 occasions and even when he got the 12 in the dismal 49 all out, he was assured and determined in his game plan. Kepler has gone on to say he has looked the best technically out of the Pakistan batsmen on this tour as he has left patiently, covered the movement generally and played some neat looking strokes.

ABD (WK) - Magnificent wicket keeper batsmen who is leading in the run charts and been as efficient as they come behind the sticks. The Wisden Editor, Scyld Berry described him as the best test batsmen around nowadays. He is entertaining watching with such a wide range of selective strokes.

Shafiq - The most 50+ scores from the visiting batsmen so far. He would not have had to play a harder innings than the 111 in the first innings and has proven he could do anything as the quality of play does not get tougher than what he had to negotiate on the opening day of the Newlands test.

Robin Peterson - Man of the match in the 2nd test, a huge surprise to many. Fair play to Robin who gave the ball a tweak and played a frustrating morale boosting hand for the hosts when they could have conceeded a major first innings deficit and thereby had to chase more in the 4th innings against Ajmal and his own bowlers not being as pumped up in the 3rd innings, knowing it wouldn't take long for the test to drift away from them.

Philander - He has got control, accuracy, persistence, away movement, the odd one nipping back, plenty of nibble in the corridor of uncertainty. The 'VERN' has got 13 already in the series and is in the 2nd place behind Steyn for the most number of wickets. The modern day Glen, even more potent than that in some respects.

Steyn - 15 wickets in 2 tests. No brainer. The best fast bowler in the world at the moment who has mastered the art of combining swing control with pace and aggression. He is giving Hafeez, in particular, all kinds of trouble with the spanking new cherry.

Ajmal - After 25 tests, Ajmal has 133 wickets which is more than what Kumble, Warne and Murali had. Unfortunately for him, this is the 2nd occurence where he has taken 10 wickets in a test match only to end up on the losing cause. His celebration when trapping Faf with a typical Ajmal dismissal from a sharp turning quick-ish offie, showed how much it meant to him to do it here against the best in the business on their own patch. The argument of him becoming Pakistan's all time best spinner increases with every test he plays. Ajmal has 100 test wickets in the last 16 consecutive test matches he has played since Guyana 2011. He started it with a 10 wicket haul in Guyana and in his most recent outing he did too over in Cape Town.

By Abdullah @maza786 on Twitter