Pakistan’s Worst Test Squad to England Ever?
Pakistan cricket continues to plunge further into darkness as the Test and T20 squad’s were announced by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) during the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka. But a look at the side suggests that those who selected the squad had either forgotten their thinking caps at home or wanted to have an agenda that they don’t want to disclose.
During the 80’s and the 90’s, Pakistan hardly lost a series against England in England because captains Imran Khan, Javed Miandad and Wasim Akram took the best available squad from Pakistan. The scenario changed in 2002 when Waqar Younis drew the series, but in 2006, the team lost its first 3 Test matches and forfeited the fourth one after umpire Darrell Hair from Australia penalized Pakistan for allegedly tampering with the ball. The test squad under Inzamam Ul Haq did not return to play after the session ended and the match went down as a forfeit, the game’s first such result. Yet, when the chief selector named the squad for Pakistan’s first tour since the Oval incident, his act of saying yes to the chairman Ijaz Butt’s selection, and not consulting his fellow selectors have thrown Pakistan back in time, where they had hit rock bottom a few years back under Inzamam. The chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board Ijaz Butt has done nothing right since taking over a couple of years back. He has appointed ‘Yes Men’ like manager Yawar Saeed, Associate Manager Shafqat Rana and Chief Operating Officer Wasim Bari while chairman of selectors Mohsin Khan has also joined the bandwagon which saw Shahid Afridi get inducted as the skipper in the recent past. Whenever they meet to discuss the team, they come out with illogical selections, and the current Test and T20 bound for England is no different.
No one in his right mind would leave out Younis Khan from the squad, yet the PCB did. It is rumoured that the former captain from Karachi doesn’t have a good rapport with manager Yawar Saeed who is a close aide of Ijaz Butt, hence Younis misses out. Although skipper Shahid Afridi wanted Younis in the side since he knows the local conditions like the back of his hand, the chairman wanted him to apologise first for doing … nothing. Ijaz Butt has made it clear that he would only give a green signal to Younis’s inclusion if he says sorry for what they deem as his mistakes during the horrible tour of Australia. But Younis isn’t a ‘Yes Man’ or one with political connections like Shoaib Malik, Shoaib Akhtar, Kamran and Umar Akmal or Shahid Afridi, who are back in the side for making their allegiance known to the PCB, despite being either banned or penalised.
Although fast bowler Mohammad Sami did nothing to warrant a place in the side, he has been to England twice, and his inclusion could have helped the bowling attack. Also misses out from the side is the consistent Khurram Manzoor who braved against the Aussie attack in Pakistan’s last test to score 80 odd runs while Yasir Hameed, who never would have believed had he been told before the announcement that he would be in the side, is in the side.
No one is likely to miss Mohammad Yousuf who has been the destroyer in chief of Pakistan cricket team - off the field. He is the one who is labelled as the man who made various players from the Pakistan team to take an oath on The Holy Quran against Younis’s attitude; hence he stays out for good. But the side has no senior batsmen in his and Younis’s absence. The two most senior partners have their own backing. While Imran Farhat’s father-in-law Mohammad Ilyas is a national selector, Shoaib Malik knows the right people in Pakistan’s government, at least the ones who matter. The two have played 33 and 29 Test matches without once cementing their places, making the batting look fragile on paper.
Injury prone left-armer Wahab Riaz will support the fit-again Umar Gul, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer while newcomer Tanvir Ahmed gets a nod after a string of good performances in first-class matches at home. The two spots for spinners went to Danish Kaneria and Saeed Ajmal. While Ajmal is more of a limited overs specialist, it would have been better had Abdur Rehman been named in his place. As for the leg-spinning Kaneria, naming him in the Test squad despite being under investigation for match-fixing allegations shows PCB‘s seriousness towards the issue. Kaneria may not be guilty but the board should have asked for a clearance first from their English counterparts.
As for the wicket keeping duties, the man who donned the gloves in the last test Pakistan played who excelled in the match - Sarfaraz Ahmed is not part of the squad. Kamran Akmal gets another chance showing the selectors don’t watch matches on TV or in the stadium; otherwise he would have been axed long time ago. Zulqarnain Haider, who played one T20 for Pakistan three years back gets the nod as Akmal’s understudy, although he himself should be someone else’s understudy.
Pakistan will play four Tests against England during the tour after the T20 matches against the hosts and Australia. But from the looks of the side, it seems they will need the special attention of God to survive being thrashed in the five-day matches.
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