AliMurtaza
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- Aug 5, 2014
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I agree that we have been left far behind by India. They have the money, structure, population, and more passion (supposedly) than Pakistan and I don't see us catching up for the next few years. However, another area where India has left Pakistan behind is selection for national and A teams. They are on constant lookout for new talent and once they have decided that a player has no future in a particular format or international team, they are quick to move on. Examples include Shaw, Mayank, and Iyer given chances for A sides and now selection of Shaw and Mayank for national team. It seems that Dhawan and Vijay's test careers are over. Yes, there will always be contentious issues like dropping of Karun Nair without giving him a proper chance but you get the idea.
I agree that new talent is not coming though in Pakistan. I agree that even for the existing players, the skill level may be behind the likes of England and India. But atleast can we select and move forward with the best set of players? Can we once and for all decide that certain players are not cut out for international cricket and move on?
There is dishonesty both on the part of selectors and Media pundits. Following are few examples
1) It is clear now that Shan Masood is not cut out for international test cricket. Why was he drafted in the last minute for the side match against Australia costing Saud Shakeel a place? Who has a better chance of having a future test career, Shan or Saud?
2) Selection of Rahat and Umaid for side match against Aus. It is clear now that Rahat is not cut for international cricket, hasn't improved a bit. 34 year old Umaid Asif is more of a limited overs bowler than a test bowler. Couldn't we have selected 2 young pacers in their place considering that our test fast bowling, unlike our limited overs fast bowling, is still not settled. If I have to select 4 fast bowlers for SA right now, except Abbas, I am struggling who to pick.
2) I am not allowed to share unannounced squads. But if you go and read a major urdu newspaper for yesterday, you will see that a 13-member A side for T20s against NZ has been finalized. It includes Umar Amin, Iftikhar Ahmed and Waqas Maqsood. Haven't we tried Umar Amin enough to know that he is not good enough for limited overs at least? He is not even picked by PSL sides. Similarly, Iftikhar may have a chance for a test career but not limited overs. Finally, how can a 30-year old medium pacer be a backup in limited overs now? Waqas Maqsood shone last year because of green pitches in Quaid-e-Azam trophy. He has a atrocious limited overs record. But Inzi sees him as a potential limited overs fast bowler now? Come on, give me a break. For these 3 slots, we could have selected Khushdil shah, Shan Masood (perfect chance to see if he is good enough for limited overs) and a young fast bowler/Asghar. All 3, Khsuhdil, Shan and Asghar, have not been selected for the T-20 A side.
4) I was watching a sports show yesterday, hosted by a over zealous host and includes a former wicket keeper and batsman as participants, and they were talking about the likes of Khurram Manzoor and Ahmed Shehzad and how they should be given a chance again. Come on, give me a break. No one bothered to bring up the international stats of Ahmed Shehzad before calling him a aggressive and highly talented batsman. And supposedly, Khurram Manzoor is the answer to Pakistan opening troubles in test cricket in overseas conditions.
Above are few of the examples. While we currently lag behind in every area from the likes of India and England, we can atleast start selecting the right set of players for A and National sides and give them a long run rather than TTFs like Shan Masood (test failure), Umar Amin (limited overs failure), Ahmed Shehzad (all formats failure), Khurram Manzoor (all formats failure), Rahat (all formats failure) etc.
Thank you reading a long rant.
I agree that new talent is not coming though in Pakistan. I agree that even for the existing players, the skill level may be behind the likes of England and India. But atleast can we select and move forward with the best set of players? Can we once and for all decide that certain players are not cut out for international cricket and move on?
There is dishonesty both on the part of selectors and Media pundits. Following are few examples
1) It is clear now that Shan Masood is not cut out for international test cricket. Why was he drafted in the last minute for the side match against Australia costing Saud Shakeel a place? Who has a better chance of having a future test career, Shan or Saud?
2) Selection of Rahat and Umaid for side match against Aus. It is clear now that Rahat is not cut for international cricket, hasn't improved a bit. 34 year old Umaid Asif is more of a limited overs bowler than a test bowler. Couldn't we have selected 2 young pacers in their place considering that our test fast bowling, unlike our limited overs fast bowling, is still not settled. If I have to select 4 fast bowlers for SA right now, except Abbas, I am struggling who to pick.
2) I am not allowed to share unannounced squads. But if you go and read a major urdu newspaper for yesterday, you will see that a 13-member A side for T20s against NZ has been finalized. It includes Umar Amin, Iftikhar Ahmed and Waqas Maqsood. Haven't we tried Umar Amin enough to know that he is not good enough for limited overs at least? He is not even picked by PSL sides. Similarly, Iftikhar may have a chance for a test career but not limited overs. Finally, how can a 30-year old medium pacer be a backup in limited overs now? Waqas Maqsood shone last year because of green pitches in Quaid-e-Azam trophy. He has a atrocious limited overs record. But Inzi sees him as a potential limited overs fast bowler now? Come on, give me a break. For these 3 slots, we could have selected Khushdil shah, Shan Masood (perfect chance to see if he is good enough for limited overs) and a young fast bowler/Asghar. All 3, Khsuhdil, Shan and Asghar, have not been selected for the T-20 A side.
4) I was watching a sports show yesterday, hosted by a over zealous host and includes a former wicket keeper and batsman as participants, and they were talking about the likes of Khurram Manzoor and Ahmed Shehzad and how they should be given a chance again. Come on, give me a break. No one bothered to bring up the international stats of Ahmed Shehzad before calling him a aggressive and highly talented batsman. And supposedly, Khurram Manzoor is the answer to Pakistan opening troubles in test cricket in overseas conditions.
Above are few of the examples. While we currently lag behind in every area from the likes of India and England, we can atleast start selecting the right set of players for A and National sides and give them a long run rather than TTFs like Shan Masood (test failure), Umar Amin (limited overs failure), Ahmed Shehzad (all formats failure), Khurram Manzoor (all formats failure), Rahat (all formats failure) etc.
Thank you reading a long rant.
