Pakistan and the questionable selection for the Indian tour – Opinion
"Dropping Afridi was a difficult decision," said Pakistan's chief selector http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mohammad-Iqbal-Qasim-c76980 as Shahid Afridi, Pakistan’s most explosive and prolific all-rounder in the history of the limited overs game was ousted from the national team that would take
on arch rivals http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 in December.
Scraping Afridi from the one-day squad is beyond understanding, as it might have been wise to leave him out for the T20s, but his presence in the three ODIs should have been confirmed.
It appears that the PCB selection committee is too nervous to think with clear heads as this is one blunder that will cost the Greens and will put them against a lot of angry Pakistanis once they land home after the tour goes awry.
While Afridi has shown signs of poor form and fitness, he is still a giant in the 50-over game. Every team on this planet knows that they cannot relax against him; bowlers from all over the world hesitate to bowl full against him as they know he might end
their careers for good.
Teams envy him, they want to have players like him in their own squads, had it been possible for countries to draft players from other nations in their national squads, Afridi would have been on the top of the list.
While trying to justify the controversial selection, Qasim had this to say, “He is no doubt a great player and has the ability to win a game, but the decision has been taken in the interest of the team. We did retain him in the T20 squad and if he performs
well he can win back his ODI place in the future. Meanwhile, we are looking for a youngster as Afridi's replacement and I am sure we will find the right man soon from the domestic circuit.”
These words hold no meaning as the big question is if they have not found Afridi’s replacement why axe him beforehand. Commonsense would have been to retain him in the team and yet induct his younger replacement.
How do they intend to groom a player like Afridi without the veteran to teach him first or perhaps the board wants the new guy to make the same mistakes which Afridi made throughout his career.
This selection is puzzling as the PCB knows that the young players are ill-equipped to handle the pressures of Indo-Pak matches. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 are already on a losing streak against their foes and for such an important tour, the board should have been wise enough
to make a better selection.
Their lack of commitment to their jobs is clear from the selection of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Imran-Farhat-c64218 in the ODI squad, who has been tested for too many times and has failed on every single occasion. Is the PCB selection committee implying that there is no other better option
in the whole country than Farhat, if this is so, then Pakistan have a serious problem on their hands.
ODI squad: Nasir Jamshed, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Zulfiqar-Babar-c98673.
Twenty20 squad: Mohammad Hafeez, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ahmed-Shehzad-c42359.
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