Pakistan Cricket’s baffling team selection
They came, they stood and they went without doing much. That’s the story of most of the batsmen in Pakistan’s cricket team, who have so far, won just one of two completed test matches in England and are staring defeat in the third.
The win against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 was, if you look at it, made possible by the bowlers and the pathetic display by the Australian batting than anything else. Hence the inclusion of Azhar Ali and Umar Amin in the side at the coveted number 3 and 4 positions has exposed the already brittle Pakistan batting.
Is this the way for the future for Pakistani cricket? In a way, yes, because the country has been represented by many such cricketers who would never have played test cricket had they been born in any other country, they would be domestic nobodies.
Intikhab Alam: He used to be a leg spin bowler who could bat well at times. Yet it was not until he was dumped and replaced by Abdul Qadir that people understood that he was a leg break bowler, who could have taken more wickets in test matches. He made his debut as a teenager in 1959 and went onto play for Pakistan in 47 tests, taking just 125 wickets. His strike rate was 83 balls per wicket and that shows he wasn’t penetrative enough during his entire career. He could have done more with his bowling yet couldn’t, and sadly, it is such cricketers who are made coaches and managers after retirement. He also led http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 in 17 Test matches but was one of the worst captains in the country’s history, always going for the draw and winning just one match.
Shoaib Malik: When a useless player like Intikhab Alam calls someone else the same thing, what does that make the other person? More useless. People are still unable to decipher what is the reason of Shoaib Malik’s inclusion in the Pakistan cricket team. He doesn’t warrant a place in the side because of his incompetent batting, he is a bowler who gets wickets only if Lady Luck is on his side and he is not Jonty Rhodes when it comes to fielding. So why is he in the Pakistan side? Is it because he is politically connected in the country where you can get the job done if you know the right people? Or is it because he is married to an Indian tennis star Sania Mirza and is the officials are too shy to dump him and shock the Indians? Whatever the reason, he should not play test cricket for Pakistan, and if he continues to do so, there are many who might quit the game and join politics.
Kamran Akmal: No wicket keeper in Test cricket should be allowed to drop catches behind the wicket, yet Kamran Akmal continues to play as if it is his birth right. He is undoubtedly a bad omen for the Pakistani side. Whenever he fails to hold onto the ball team morale is lost. At times the fielders get the shock of their lives when Kamran collects the ball but doesn’t dislodge the bails for no particular reason (done twice in last 6 months). If Pakistan is to win matches regularly they need a reliable wicket keeper!
There are also Faisal Iqbal and Fawad Alam in the Pakistan camp who have been given chances but haven’t been able to do justice to their selection. While Fawad Alam gets to play in the limited overs side, Faisal was a test regular before an axe fell on him for no reason. Fawad Alam scored a century in his test debut as an opener.
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