Pakistan cricket team selection criteria (Fitness)
In the recent past http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 cricket team has struggled with their consistency. There are a several reasons for the inconsistency. One of the main reasons is the criteria of selection.
The selection has been inconsistent. Often one player will be selected for one series, only to be abruptly dropped and never seen again. Players are not given a chance to prove themselves.
The chairman of the Pakistan cricket selection committee, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Khan-c71319, has said that there are three guide lines to select an individual. First, an individual should prove his fitness, his playing form, and then seek clearance from the chairman of
the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on disciplinary grounds.
If we talk about the first guideline, there will be many questions raised. How many players in the current Pakistani team are fit? There are several examples of players, who have been selected but have doubtful fitness levels, the most well known example
is that of Mohammad Yousuf.
After the disastrous Australian tour, top Pakistani batsmen, Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf were banned. Mohammad Yousuf in anger announced his retirement from the international cricket. Later, Younis Khan’s ban was overturned. Due to Younis’s conflict
with PCB Chairman, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Kamal-c70069 and Faisal Iqbal were ready to take their places.
But the Chairman of the selection committee was determined to find new faces. Azhar Ali and Umar Amin were given their first opportunities against the top ranked Test team, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746. As a result Pakistan’s batting line-up had little experience in the top
and middle order. It is no secret that Pakistan’s batting struggled during the entire English tour and their victories came as result of their bowling attack.
Mohammad Yousuf was bundles off to England in the middle of the second Test match, in what can be best described as an ad-hoc display of selection. He didn’t play the second Test due to lack of match fitness. The Oval Test marked his reasonable comeback,
where he scored a half century and a 33. After his first few appearances he struggled for form. His stroke play looked fine, but his lack of fitness saw him getting out without making substantial contributions.
Doubtful match fitness and Shoaib Akhtar have become synonymous in recent times and one can’t remember the last time he started a series without a cloud of doubts about his fitness hanging over his balding head.
Shoaib Akhtar’s bowling has looked good. He has bowled with pace and aggression and was one of the highest wicket takers in the recently concluded One-Day International (ODI) series against England. But after bowling his over he became a liability in the
field. Whenever the ball went to him, a single is a 2, and 2 is a 3. Batsmen targeted Shoaib Akhtar in the field.
Abdul Razzak is another player, who is immensely talented, but has struggled with his fitness. He always looks jaded and tired in the field. In the current series he gave extra runs in the field. He plays in the team as a third seamer. He is bound to bowl
10 overs, but after 5 overs he gets tired, and is unable to deliver his share with the ball.
Razzak, comes in to bat at number 8 in the batting order. His role is to slog, in order to boost the final total, something that requires high amounts of energy and skill. Can Abdul Razzak deliver a high energy batting performance and then be relied on to
take wickets and save runs in the field?
Mohammad Irfan, the promising left-arm fast bowler was sent to England to replace Mohammad Amir. He had been hyped up by the media and had impressed the legends, like Waqar Younis and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Wasim-Akram-c96292. But he looked out of sorts in the two ODI’s he played. His
lumbering run-up, wayward line and length and poor fielding were most clumsy and created doubts about his athletic ability.
If fitness is a genuine criterion for Pakistani cricket selectors, how did the above mentioned players get selected? Mr. Mohsin Khan, chief selector, must be made accountable for his words.
There are many players who are fit to play, but are ignored because of various reasons. The country has enough talent in the wings. A player might be the greatest batsman on earth, or the leading fast bowler in the world but if he is not fit enough to play
professional cricket, he should not occupy a spot on the national Pakistani team.
It can be argued that poor team selection is one of the root causes of poor team performance.
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