Last Friday, Abid Ali became on the third Pakistani to score a hundred in his Oneday International debut. Though he failed to give Pakistan a consolation victory in the fourth game of the ODI series against the Aussies in Dubai, Abid received widespread praise for his classy 112 in Pakistan’s six-run defeat. A fter the game, Abid said that one of the legends he admiresmost is Inzamam-ul-Haq, the former Pakistan Test captain, who is currently the country’s chief selector. But it is an open secret that Inzamam has had no soft corner for the 31-year-old Abid.
He continued overlooking him even as Abid continued to score runs both domestically and in recent List A games. Some critics went to the extent of suggesting that Inzamam has been ignoring talented and technically solid batsmen like Abid in favour of inferior batters like his own nephew Imam-ul-Haq. They argue that even though Abid was selected in the touring party for the five-match series against the Aussies in the UAE, he only played in the penultimate game because Imam was unwell. This charge might sound a bit too harsh but there might be some truth to it. As chief selector Inzamam has been unwilling to provide opportunities to deserving players like Abid and that raises a big question mark over both his credibility and utility as chief selector. For a cricket board like the PCB which isn’t really cashrich, Inzamam comes at quite a hefty price tag. He is paid a sizeable salary and other benefits for doing what? Some say to overlook players like Abid. Both Inzamam and the Board have also come under intense criticism over their decision to rest several key players for the series against Australia.
It’s a debatable issue. Sometimes it helps to shield yourmain players ahead of a major and exhaustive tournament like the ICCWorld Cup which will be played in England and Wales from May 30 to July 14. It is going to be a marathon event and Pakistan will need their top players fully fit, hopefully for the entire duration of the tournament. From that angle, it doesn’t appear to be a bad idea to rest some of the key players. But things in Pakistan aren’t what they seem to be. There have been many conspiracy theories doing the rounds since the day it was announced by the PCB that several frontline players including captain Sarfraz Ahmed will not be playing in the series against Australia. Instead, the Board decided to appoint experienced allrounder Shoaib Malik as the stand-in captain for the series. The decision to rest Sarfraz from a major series, just weeks before Pakistan’s opening World Cup game against theWest Indies has been questioned time and again in the recent past. The criticism has intensified following Pakistan’s meek surrender against the Australians, who have comfortably taken a 4-0 lead in the series.
Though Sarfraz hasn’t commented on the move himself, it is understood that he wasn’t happy either. The decision was certainly a questionable one. Sarfraz isn’t a frontline fast bowler whom Pakistan needed to shield from any fitness issues ahead of the World Cup. Instead Pakistan could have easily rested the aging Malik, who at 37 is six years older than Sarfraz and would have appreciated some time off before the English sojourn later this summer. In fact Malik did get injured during the series and had to miss Friday night’s game because of fitness issues, handing the captaincy to Imad Wasim. Under Malik, Pakistan were outclassed in the first three games of series by the Australians. In the fourth match, Pakistan brought themselves within striking distance of a much-needed win only to squander the opportunity. When Pakistan opted to rest players like like Sarfraz, Babar Azam, Hasan Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Shadab Khan and Shaheen Afridi, they knew that beating a resurgent Australia would be a tough task.
But contrary to expectations, the host team’s performance in the series has been really bad and that could hurt Pakistan’s morale as they get ready for the World Cup. Another question decision on the part of the selection committee was the return of Umar Akmal. The 28-year-old batsman, who was discarded because of his poor form and fitness was brought back in the national team just because of his showing in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). How can you bring back a discarded player in yourWorld Cup plans just because he does well in a T20 league? With less than two months to go before Pakistan’s opening World Cup game, things aren’t looking very good for the 1992 champions. That’s why it was hardly surprising when Prime Minister Imran Khan took top PCB officials to task over the country’s World Cup preparations. Sources privy to the briefing given by a top-level PCB delegation to the PMsaid that Imran wasn’t very happy with the way things are going in Pakistan cricket. Besides questioning Pakistan’s homework for the World Cup, the PM, who is chief patron of the Board, also rejected the PCB’s model for the restructuring of domestic cricket. The restructuring of Pakistan’s domestic cricket is a tricky issue and is unlikely to be resolved the way the current PCB setup wants to resolve it. Khalid Hussain is Editor Sports of The News khalidhrajgmail.