Sadiq criticises team selection for England series

KARACHI: Former Test cricketer Sadiq Mohammad is not happy with the selection of the Pakistan team for the England home series.

“If this is the selection experts, then God save thy soul and Pakistan cricket,” Sadiq told ‘The News’ on Sunday while addressing the selectors.

Sadiq a day before Pakistan announced squads for the England T20 series and the World Cup had suggested that five specialist batsmen should be picked in order to bring stability to the top and middle order against England which is a tough team to beat.

He had advised against selecting Asif Ali and Iftikhar Ahmed who he had said were of club standard cricketers with no proper techniques.

Sadiq had also suggested that left-armer Mir Hamza should be picked in place of Mohammad Hasnain. Sadiq had also mentioned that Shan Masood, Imam-ul-Haq and Abdullah Shafiq should be drafted into the squad which would help boost the middle order which faced issues during the Asia Cup in the UAE recently.

However, national selectors only brought in Shan Masood, while retaining both Asif Ali and Iftikhar Ahmed in the squad for the England series which is a prelude to the ICC World Cup.

“It shows that the selection committee chairman is neither worried nor concerned in resolving the problems. In fact, this selection committee has multiplied the problem by selecting only one middle order batsman Shan Masood. The selectors have selected two bowlers who were not needed,” said Sadiq, a former left-handed opener.

“Therefore, your reputation as a head coach has already become the talk of the town. Please intervene for inducting good middle batsmen against England,” said Sadiq while addressing head coach Saqlain Mushtaq.

Pakistan and England are going to engage in a seven-match T20 series with the opener to be held on Tuesday (tomorrow) here at the National Stadium.

This will be followed by the matches at the same venue on September 22, 23 and 25 before the action moves to Lahore where both nations will be engaged in three more T20s at the Gaddafi Stadium on September 28 and 30 and October 2.

The series is important for the teams to prepare for the ICC T20 World Cup which will begin in Australia next month.