da dobrowin： The bungling Pakistan cricket selectors Saturday had to eat humble pieand name Wasim Akram in the 16-man squad for the Asian TestChampionship opener against Bangladesh
Samiul Hasan26-Aug-2001The bungling Pakistan cricket selectors Saturday had to eat humble pieand name Wasim Akram in the 16-man squad for the Asian TestChampionship opener against Bangladesh.Earlier the same set of selectors had not considered Wasim, who has414 Test and 440 one-day wickets, even good enough to be included in27 probables selected on July 31 and invited to attend areconditioning camp that concluded at the National Stadium onWednesday. Ironically, an unfit duo of Mohammad Sami and Shoaib Akhtarwere called to appear in the camp.But the three-time former captain, whose exclusion sparked anavoidable controversy, proved that he deserved a place in the team noton charity but on merit when he upstaged Shoaib Akhtar in the two-day90-over-a-side match earlier this week.Shoaib Akhtar, who has spent more of his time in the dressing room andglobe trotting at the expense of PCB rather than justifying millionsof rupees invested on him, was eventually left out from the squad,though belatedly. However, the chairman of selectors Wasim Bari, whorefused to neither explain the inclusion of Wasim nor defended theinclusion of a couple of other players, said Shoaib wanted more matchpractice.”Shoaib Akhtar has informed that he needs more match practice. ShoaibMalik has been included because Saqlain Mushtaq is not available,”Bari said in his brief statement, adding: “I will notmake any furthercomments on the team,”Graceful left-handed opener Taufiq Umer and middle-order batsman NavedLatif were the only new faces in the side. But God knows on whichperformance another “liability” Mohammad Akram was included in theteam.Akram, the 28-year-old pacer, in his last Test against New Zealand atHamilton had figures of none for 106 while in a previous game againstSri Lanka at Karachi, had figures of one for 49 and one for 44. Theinjury-prone bowler has played nine Tests since making his debutagainst Sri Lanka in 1995-96.Moreover, Akram was not considered as first choice replacement afterShoaib Akhtar broke down in England. Fazle Akbar reinforced the teamfor the tri-nation one-day series but now the Peshawar bowler is outof favour. “It is a well balanced team. In our humble opinion, it isthe best team to represent Pakistan. The playing lineup, I againrepeat, will be named by the captain before the start of the match andafter seeing the wicket,” Bari said.One thing that clearly emerged is that the present selectors have novision and lack planning. After watching Shoaib Akhtar in the two-daymatch, it should have been them and not the bowler who should havesaid he requires more match practice.And had they visualized things, they would have made Shoaib play inthe three-dayer against Bangladesh currently in progress at the UBLSports Complex. Now the situation is that Shoaib will be doubtfulstarter for the one-day series against New Zealand as the Patron’sTrophy first-class tournament begins Sept 21 – two days after thefirst one-dayer at Karachi.The other issue, which raises eyebrows, is the validity of the threedayer between the PCB XI and the touring Bangladesh. The squad wasnamed at a time when promising Misbah-ul-Haq was batting and NavedLatif had been dismissed. The eventual result was Misbah was left outeven after scoring an unbeaten half century while Naved sneaked intothe team after scoring 30.Similarly, paceman Shabbir Ahmad should also consider himself unluckywhen his three-wicket burst on Friday failed to impress the selectorswho opted for mediocre and tested Mohammad Akram who has proved overthe years a total flop.As regards other members of the team, wrist spinner Danish Kaneria hasbeen recalled after 10 months. He last played in the final two Testsagainst England last year. Also back in the fold is Irfan Fazil whoplayed in the third and final Test against Sri Lanka at Karachi inMarch 2000. All-rounder Azhar Mahmood was not considered for selectionbecause of stomach upset.Squad: Waqar Younis (captain), Inzamam-ul-Haq (vice-captain),Saeed Anwar, Taufiq Umer, Yousuf Youhana, Younis Khan, Faisal Iqbal,Imran Nazir, Naved Latif, Abdul Razzaq, Rashid Latif, Danish Kaneria,Wasim Akram, Irfan Fazil, Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Akram.