Dear all! Once again Eid Mubarak from Team KheloPakistan.com, first of all I'd like to congratulate you people for the recent series victory over Sri Lanka. As you know we have starte this new 'Eid Special Series', we have been compiling all time XIs of Team Green, yesterday we published Pakistan's All time Test XI today we bring you the Pakistani ODI team of all time, which is as follows

(Selection Criterion : a minimum of 100 ODI games)

1. Saeed Anwar:
Without a doubt, Pakistan’s best ever opening batsman. Anwar has an average of almost 40 with a strike rate in access of 80. Both these traits make him a must have in any ODI team. This wristy, gallant left hander held the record of most runs in an ODI innings for almost 13 years before the master blaster Sachin Tendulkar scored first ever double hundred in an ODI innings.

2. Ramiz Raja:

Ramiz Raja aka Rambo never earned the amount of respect he deserved.  A stylish bloke; whether on the field or off the field.  Ramiz scored more than 5000 runs in ODI cricket with 9 hundreds at an average of 33. A man of solid stats as compared to Mudassar Nazar/Mohsin Khan/Majid Khan who were very talented but could not transform that talent on the scoring sheet. Another reason of having Ramiz in this team is his character; a dignified man, in later ‘90s when most of the Pakistani players were involved in match fixing he was the captain that got rid of them.

3.Younis Khan:

 Many would criticize his selection ahead of Sir Zaheer Abbas or Ijaz Ahmad but talking factually, Zaheer Sir played only 60 ODIs in the time when ODI cricket itself was under development and considering the commitment of player while leading leaves Zaheer sb. out a little. Talking about Ijaz Ahmad, a guy who played with the likes of Saeed Anwar, Miandad, Imran Khan was never asked much to deliver. Also Ijaz Ahmad’s suspected involvement in match-fixing makes him misfit for my team. On the contrast, what haven’t Younis Khan done? A gutsy fearless batsman, who can stay on the wicket as long as you want him to and can accelerate when required. Plus Khan’s exquisite fielding performances make him a must have in any Pakistani XI. And the way this guy has shown responsibility and won matches for Pakistan it will be  terrible disaster if I ignore this masterful batsman and a real gentleman out of this team.

4. Javed Miandad:

 Having Miandad ahead of Mohammad Yousuf was due to Miandad’s special ability to finish the games. Mohammad Yousuf has been a brilliant middle order stay for Pakistani but he seldom finished any matches. Whereas Miandad’s efforts in WC ‘1992 (where he stayed up till to the end in more than 5 matches), the last ball six at Sharjah and many other contributions drove me to put him ahead of MoYO

5.Inzamam ul Haq:

Inzamam! Inzamam! Inzamam! How can I miss on Pakistan’s most ODI runs-getter? Inzamam had all the gears in his inventory; he could have batted at any pace as per team’s requirement. Pakistan has never produced a better number 5 batsman. Who am I to miss this legend out?

6.Imran Khan:

Imran Khan! Father of modern Pakistani Cricket. Had this man not brought the world cup home, our talent inventory would have never produced gems like Younis, Yousuf, Akhtar & Afridi. Pakistan’s most successful captain has always been an inspiration to me. He just wasn’t a leader but a top seed all-rounder as well. A batting average of 34 alongside bowling average of 26 is what you don’t see so often in ODI cricket. He without a doubt is key all-rounder and Captain of this XI.

7. Moin Khan:

Pakistan has never produced any brilliant wicket keeping batsmen like Adam Gilchrist, Kumar Sangakkara, MS Dhoni or Matt Prior etc., that’s why they had to experience with different keeper time to time again. Moin Khan had an eventful career as compared to others. Moin’s career batting average is in mid 20s but he sure is Pakistan’s most successful wicket keeper with 287 dismissals to his name. Reason behind preferring him over Rashid Latif is Moin’s ability to score runs at a quicker pace which a must have for a Number 7 batsman of a team.

PS please don’t ask why I didn’t prefer Dropmal? Because I guess you know the answer already.

8. Wasim Akram:

Swing Maestro is what I like him to call. What a bowler he was, swung the ball both ways. Had equal control on the new ball as well as the old ball. Pakistan’s leading wicket taker in ODI cricket with over 500 wickets cannot be ignored. Eh? Talking about his batting; he is capable of hitting the ball long and high which would prove handy at the end of the innings.

9. Waqar Younis:

“Fast and Furious yet right on the money” is how I describe Waqar’s talent. Selecting Wasim and leaving Waqar out would make no sense; both of the legends were so good as a pair. One would push the batsman on the back foot making use of his extra pace and the other would trouble them with the peach swingers. Behind Wasim, Waqar is Pakistan’s 2^nd highest wicket taker with 416 ODI wickets.
Wasim + Waqar = A recipe to destroy any batting line up

10. Saqlain Mushtaq:

288 wickets in 169 ODIs is rather impossible for an average off-spinner. But Saqlain was never an average off-spinner; he was the first one to introduce ‘doosra’ to the world of cricket. He bowled his tricks with such a control that world’s best batsmen (Mark Waugh, Stephen Fleming, Rahul Dravid etc.) struggled to pick his variations up.  Due to some unknown reasons he was discarded from Team Green in year 2004. But as I am unaware of those reasons, thus he is a must starrer in my XI

11.Shoaib Akhtar/Shahid Afridi:

Now these two names have excited you, haven’t they   
Two of the most charismatic players Pakistan have ever produced. Two Mavericks; known for their aggression and guile. Magnificent players, my personal favorites. Both of them are top players yet a little inconsistent at times. That’s why they couldn’t make it to the XI without any exception.

One is world’s fastest ever bowler who used to thrive them batters’ heartbeat whereas the other guy is a flamboyant all-rounder who (while batting) can hit it as long as you want him to and can toil through world’s strongest batting line ups making use of his crafty leg-break bowling.

Now as a captain if I had to choose between them two to play I would read under the playing venue’s conditions first:

If we were to play against a sub-continent side I’d go with Shahid Afridi who can create difficult for the oppositions’ batsmen with the amount of drift he produces. Apart from his bowling he would be a perfect lower order hitter to take the things away from the opposition in a jiffy.

But if I was to play on fast bouncy tracks of Australia, New Zealand or England etc., I would have gone with the speedster to give the opposition some of their own medicine.

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