Opening Statement: The Pakistan squad looks balanced as far as the 15 members are concerned but it is yet to be seen if they take the balance forward into the playing 11 as well. Pakistan has recently had this problem of playing with too many batsmen or all-rounders and sometimes their bowling lacks the capacity the captain would like to have in a certain situation.

Comebacks: With both the Shoaibs back, Pakistan would hope for some decency in the bowling and middle order batting departments, however, comebacks are never easy and especially when you are up against sides like India and SriLanka. Most probably the strategy from both sides would be to hit hard at Shoaib Akhtar in his early matches so that he doesn’t feel at home with his return act. Similar should be the case with Malik, who is a slow starter, and if they bowl good line and length deliveries to him, they can easily shake him up. Another comeback that has almost gone unnoticed is that of Imran Farhat.

New Comers: Although there are a few newcomers in the side, but it is still to be seen how many of them actually get to play on the field considering the short span of the tournament and the format with no margin of error whatsoever. Shahzaib Hassan, Umar Amin and Asad Shafiq have been included on their recent form.

Combination: Now this can be the tricky part with Pakistan. They played too many spinners in the T20 World cup and they might be tempted to play too many batsmen in the Asia cup considering their recent form in the 50 over genre. An ideal combination shall always feature Shoaib Akhtar and Amir balling together – that would be fun to watch. If both are at their best, they would be difficult to handle. Even with the new guys the middle order is strong enough to unsettle any bowling attack on their day. Umar Akmal is in very good form and if he carries this into the Asia cup, it would be an entertaining affair altogether. Shoaib Mailk’s addition in the middle order would be a bonus but I am still confused how Afridi would place himself and Kamran Akmal in the batting order. With three openers selected in a squad of fifteen, one should assume that Kamran would not be opening but you never know with Pakistan and their last minute decisions.

My Playing Eleven: Salman Butt, Shahzaib Hassan , Shoaib Malik , Umar Akmal ,Umar Amin, Kamran Akmal , Abdul Razzaq, Shahid Afridi, Muhammad Amir, Shoaib Akhtar & Saeed Ajmal (in the order of batting)

The squad included the 11 players who played in the first Test at Centurion plus batsman Alviro Petersen, all-rounder Ryan McLaren and fast bowler Dale Steyn. Dropped from the original 15-man squad for the first Test was left-arm fast bowler Wayne Parnell. Steyn was due to play at Centurion but was withdrawn from the side because of a tight hamstring on the morning of the match.

The squad: Graeme Smith (capt), Hashim Amla, Mark Boucher, AB de Villiers, Friedel de Wet, JP Duminy, Paul Harris, Jacques Kallis, Ryan McLaren, Morne Morkel, Makhaya Ntini, Alviro Petersen, Ashwell Prince, Dale Steyn.