da bet esporte： Leaving aside the controversies unnecessarily created by the befuddledPakistan Cricket Board (PCB) over captaincy, the hiring of half adozen “White Elephants” and selection of Wasim Akram the team pickedfor the two Tests against England is not the
da betobet： Rehan Ullah Siddiqui15-May-2001Leaving aside the controversies unnecessarily created by the befuddledPakistan Cricket Board (PCB) over captaincy, the hiring of half adozen “White Elephants” and selection of Wasim Akram the team pickedfor the two Tests against England is not the strongest to visit theBritish Isle. The first Test starts from Thursday at Lords, London.On paper, the 17-member team named by the “dummy selectors” andrubber-stamped by the “yes men” of Advisor Council, the squad appears”formidable”. But if past performance is any yardstick the team is anordinary one comprised of brittle batting lineup, less menacing attackand probably the worst international fielding side.A look at the squad gives a clear impression that it is a compromisedone. Several players have been left out because either they are notthe blue-eyed boys of the PCB or skipper Waqar Younis – lucky to be inthe side – voted against their inclusion to include his long-timebuddies. Besides several players have found their way into the teamdespite being a spent force or are known to break down as and whenthey feel like it, to be “joy riders” as the case has been with ShoaibAkhtar.On the other hand the trio of Moin Khan, Shahid Afridi and Imran Nazirhave been axed on the flimsy pretext that they are inconsistent. Ifconsistency has been the criteria then only Inzamam-ul-Haq, SaeedAnwar, Yousuf Youhana and probably Saqlain Mushtaq will walk into theteam.Ironically the trio are fittest players and in Imran Nazir and ShahidAfridi, Pakistan has two best fielders who are worth at least 20 runsbeing in the side. Batting has always been Pakistan’s Achilles heelsover the years and the eight batsmen selected do not inspireconfidence considering their recent form.Inzamam-ul-Haq, Saeed Anwar and Yousuf Youhana are no doubt class actsbut more than often they too have surrendered when put under pressure.Saleem Elahi, Imran Farhat, Younis Khan, Faisal Iqbal and MohammadWasim are still a long way to be regarded as Test certainties. Abetter option for the “dummy selectors” would have been to persistwith Shahid Afridi and Imran Nazir who under proper guidance arecapable of becoming match winners and far better prospect than SaleemElahi and Imran Farhat.And on seaming tracks with cloud cover our batsmen are in a for atorrid time against England’s seam attack whose virtue is line andlength as they proved in our own backyard early this year. Every timePakistan play our pundits and experts go berserk claiming that thegreat duo of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis are good enough to destroythe opposition as they did so devastatingly in early and late 90s.Now we have to accept the reality that these two great speedsters arenot the potent force they were and the recent statistics reveal thatthey are no more match-winners specially in five-day Test. Not once inlast couple of years Waqar Younis has bowled Pakistan to victory in aTest or taken five wickets in an innings, a bench-mark for a greatbowler. The last occasion Wasim Akram scalped five or more batsmen inan innings was in Sri Lanka and not surprisingly Pakistan won thatTest.With the conditions favouring seamers rather than spinners in twoTests it is strange to pick Mushtaq Ahmed who has been in and out ofthe team like a yo-yo for so long. He is certainly over the hill andit will be a surprise if he finds a place in Tests.Saqlain Mushtaq too has so far failed to deliver the goods expected ofa world class spinner. He has been inconsistent and cannot be placedin the same league as Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan, the twospinners with proven track record as match-winners.Pakistan’s other options in attack are injury-prone and with suspectaction, Shoaib Akhtar. A bowler with an altered action is never thesame specially in case of a pacer. So the highly pampered “RawalpindiExpress” on whom PCB has spent millions of rupees is most likely tobecome a “tourist” not for the first time.Teenager Mohammad Sami still requires time and perform regularly to beregarded as an international player. Abdur Razzaq and Azhar Mahmoodare mediocre medium-paced whose averages of 41 and 37 runs per wicketare not going to put awe into English batsmen who are fed on thestaple diet of medium-paced stuff day in and day out.Prediction in cricket is a hazardous business but all signs are thatWaqar Younis and his team-mates are in for a tough time in the two-Test series. And if Pakistan manages to draw the series it should betaken as a moral victory considering the team’s spate of poor returnsat Test level in recent years.
