Although a lot better, the current attack has many similarities to the 2007 squad which too lacked a leader. With a verdict on Saeed Ajmal's action due soon, the fitness of Umar Gul a big question mark and Mohammad Irfan still some way in finding his rhythm, a spearhead is clearly missing.
When it's his day, Shahid Afridi can do it alone, but with him its about being in that zone. When Pakistan were truly a one-day force, the side almost always had a top-class spinner in its ranks. Abdul Qadir, Mushtaq Ahmed, Saqlain Mushtaq and presently Ajmal but it was almost always complimented by quality in the pace department.
When Junaid Khan and Wahab Riaz take wickets it usually comes at the cost of a lot of runs. Khan's last five performances read like this: 6-16-0, 7-44-0, 9-56-1,9-75-0,8-64-1 while Riaz 2-8-0, 6-40-0, 9-50-3, 10-65-4, 6-42-1 were much better either. Riaz is somehow also mistaken for an all-rounder, his rescue efforts with the bat have been far too few to give him that much credit. Fast bowlers must not just make up the numbers, they must take wicket themselves too.
