Bangladesh Will Pose a Tough Challenge for Pakistan, says Rameez Raja

Pakistan's cricket community welcomed the new squads announced for the series in Bangladesh but former Test captain Rameez Raja cautioned the team to expect a tough challenge from the hosts.

"Let me tell you clearly that Bangladesh looked a changed and more confident side in the World Cup and their batting was better than us. So I don't think the coming limited over games are going to be easy sailing for us in Bangladesh," Rameez said. "We should expect a close series." (Saeed Ajmal back in Pakistan squad for Bangladesh tour)

Rameez also expressed reservations over whether off-spinner, Saeed Ajmal would be able to make a successful comeback to international cricket with his modified bowling action. (Misbah-ul-Haq, Waqar Younis wanted PCB to sideline Shehzad, Umar Akmal for a year)

"Once a bowler's bowling action is called and he undergoes tests then I don't recall if such a bowler has managed to comeback strongly in international cricket. It will not be easy for Saeed to make a comeback and enjoy the same success. But selecting him was the proper thing to do as he has to be tested sooner or later." (IPL 2015 will set me up for Pakistan series: Shakib-al-Hasan)

Rameez also felt that Pakistan cricket needed to go back to their style of play, which is aggressive. "Playing aggressive and attacking cricket taking wickets and scoring runs quickly has been our DNA but in the World Cup I was disappointed not to see this except for the game against South Africa. We need to change with time and play one-day cricket aggressively and fearlessly."

Pakistan's former captain and great, Wasim Akram backed the appointment of Azhar Ali and Sarfraz Ahmed as captain and vice-captain of the one-day squad. "It is a sensible decision and Azhar should be supported. Pakistan cricket has talent and it is good to see new players coming in. But also need to change our approach and play differently now."

Akram also said the presence of a strong pace attack was a good sign for the team, specially the comeback of Junaid Khan.

"Our pace attack is our strength and I think Wahab Riaz has the potential to become one of the Ws," Akram said.

Pakistan's former captain Muhammad Yousuf also welcomed the inclusion of new blood in the national side for the Bangladesh tour but advised the selectors not to panic on basis of a few results.

"Now we need to move ahead and give maximum exposure to those players who are technically strong and committed to raising their game. We shouldn't go back to the tried and tested players after one or two failures as has happened in the past." Yousuf also admitted that while it was correct to drop Ahmed Shehzad and Umar Akmal for the test and ODI series in Bangladesh but they shouldn't be written off completely.

"They have lot of talent and they must be made to play domestic cricket and only considered for national selection once they became technically stronger. Their problem is their batting has technical flaws which they need to sort out before playing international cricket again."

Another former captain Rashid Latif said the Bangladesh tour was the right time to blood some new faces but said that one should expect a tough fight from the hosts who had shown improvement in the World Cup. "We shouldn't go overboard. Shehzad has proven himself in the past and he needs to be closely monitored. Because his talent should not be wasted."