Unfair selection is equvivalent to match fixing
on January 23rd, 2009 at 9:22 pm
It is still not clear if Shoaib Akhtar will be dropped in the final match or not, the chief selector has not been attending selection committee’s meetings he was also reported to come late in practice sessions, Qadir & co selected the team on the basis of seniority and not performance, they never gave Malik enough options in batting, he is at the mercy of these rogue senior players, and in my opinion such a selection is nothing short of match fixing. If Shoaib and Tanvir played in the last match I will have no doubt that PCB management didn’t wanted to win the series.
Malik openly criticized Shoaib Akhtar for not performing some sections of the media are now trying to use his statement to spur a feud between Akhtar and Malik, instead of supporting Malik for his rightful and fair criticism they are more interested in creating a media circus, which in my opinion is pathetic. None of these journalists in their articles bothered to highlight and criticize the failure of Younis Khan, Afridi, and Misbah. Both Younis and Afridi have delivered below par performances in T20 WC and the final match of the Odi series against SA and both players alongwith Shoaib Akhtar have been on the forefront to accuse Malik of conspiring against them, well their performance in key matches suggests otherwise.
Malik has been demanding the injection of fresh talent in the team he never enjoyed enough power during his tenure as a captain to impose his will on the selectors like Akram and Inzamam, if the selectors do not trust the team management then atleast they themselves have to do a fine job, in Past Wasim Bari and Salahudiin Salu were also accused of unfair selection, they persisited with players like Akmal, Rana, Sami and Hafeez for an unusually long period and as a result Pakistan’s performance remained inconsistent despite having one of the largest talent pool of players. The problem will continue in future also if the selection is not done on fair basis and the captain’s input is not seriously regarded.
I think Pakistan should look to replace these rogue senior players rather than the captain, there are enough players in the domestic circuit who can replace them, it seems as if the nation is stuck on some of these big stars and is willing to show no faith in new talent.
The deliberate selection of out of form players by the selection committee in my opinion is equivalent of match fixing.
People are sick and tired of Afridi’s brainless batting if he is just a bowler then he should get his place after a fair competition with other bowlers.
The senior players like Younis, Afridi, Misbah and Shoaib instead of blaming the captain and accusing him of conspiring against them should look at their own performance and try to justify their selection through their performance, a captain is helpless if he has rogue players under his command, the press should not unnecessarily support these rogue players, and should be fair in highlighting the problem.
NC
I think the problem is three dimensional, all three parties concerned are contributing to the problem.
Malik has an inherent flaw in his personality he does not know how to be authoritative, he voices his concerns and demands but when confronted by the players or PCB he backtracks from them, on field he is not bad and has delivered when the players backed him, but he will have to be more authoritative and to do that he will have to risk his captaincy which he is holding to dear to himself. He will have to stop supporting players like Akmal and Wahab Riaz.
PCB despite their tall claims have caved in front of player’s power the seniority based selection and the distribution of central contracts is an evidence to that fact.
I think it’s time for PCB to rest Akmal, Afridi and Shoaib they should reevaluate Misbah and Younis based on their current form, PCB should give some games to youngsters to prove their skills rather than making them sit on the bench and then discarding them permanently after the series. So far all the youngsters except one or two who were given a chance have not disappointed. Sohail Khan and Saeed Ajmal did perform much better than Shoaib and Tanvir.
The cricketless year never allowed anyone to guage the true mettle of Malik and the senior players, some of the players did get rusty, I am willing to give some margin, but they have been playing non stop domestic cricket since the last year.
PCB never fullfilled its promise to only select those who will perform in domestic cricket, Afridi, Misbah, Younis, and Shoaib Akhtar they all had miserable domestic season. I strongly believe that the selection committee is responsible for this loss.
Qadir & Co did a very poor job.
Especially when they knew that the Seniors players can no longer threaten PCB to defect to ICL, not at least this year, in past some players have used ICL as a bargaining chip. This was a perfect opportunity to try out new players.
Wasim, it’s one big mess, a good way to clean it up is for PCB to be take clear sides 1) Malik’s or 2) the rogue players. Gng by Malik’s new found voice, appears he’s getn some extra backing. But does he have it in him to lead the team? A cricketless year doesn’t help either.
- NC
SP
He is a bowler who thinks he can bat,if he was playing from another country he would have been dropped many years ago.
He is surviving bcz of politics, he also has a huge fan base in Karachi who will start a riot if he is dropped.
like SB i too can not understand pak fixation with afridi…he has not done anything for a while…every body waits for this bomb to explode but what this is doing is…imploding on team…he is just blocking a youngster career…
Soulberry
I agree Younis must be in the team, Misbah is out of form, Afridi has declared himself a bowler but other than Bangladesh his performance as a bowler hasn’t been stellar,in last two years against Srilanka in 5 matches he has taken only 4 wickets his Econ rate has been around 4.5 against India he has taken 7 wickets in 8 matches his econ rate is 5.85, he did had a good series against SA as a bowler but threw away the final match as a batsman, I think any good young bowler can give such performances at least the team and the captain will get rid of his politics and nakhray bazi.
Limited overs cricket is all about combination,with Afridi in the team our tail starts at #6 and none of these bowlers including Afridi can bat there is no depth in the batting.
I believe Mansoor Amjad and Yasir Arafat are better all rounders than Afridi.
The selectors by not selecting Nasir Jamshed made a huge blunder, he is aggressive and has consistently performed against international teams and was scoring runs in domestic matches.Dropping him and Fawad Alam was quite suspicious.
Saeed bin Nasir was also ignored he was also in terrific form with the bat. Shoaib Akhtar took only 7 wickets in domestic matches out of which 4 came from just one match as opposed to some young fast bowlers like Talha and Aamir both of them have around 25 wickets each in QA trophy, they have been consistent in all the recent tournaments and have taken wickets against quality teams, both of them consistently bowl in 140′s, Aamir a lefty has been highly recommended by Wasim Akram he not only takes wickets but his econ rate is always around 3 or under. Talha is a bit faster than Aamir and has an action just like Waqar.
The selectors have been consistently selecting older players for reasons only known to them.
I think the inclusion of younger players will make the team more aggressive and energetic and will give the captain more authority.
Ottayan
I think out of the seniors only Younis might perform in the last match whenever he starts slow he scores and whenever he starts aggressively he throws away his wicket.
Misbah is out of form he hasn’t scored in any of the domestic competitions.
Hard-hitting sincere article Wasim…plenty of truths in there.
I agree that there are some spots which should be explored with fresh talent. However, I feel Younis should have been playing anyway. Misbah may have ridden out the goodwill of past performances and needs to refresh the slate ASAP.
Shoaib Akhtar, I believe, is coming off very a period with little cricket. Maybe he needs a few matches under his belt.
But I have no sympathies for Afridi remaining. Everybody has actually arrested his development by always saying “he plays like that” etc etc. He should have by this time harnessed his considerable talent and attributes.
The selectors could have been in a quandary in the absence of the CoS. They took the safe option – sticking with known entities.
I agree with you that the seniors are playing only to retain their place. You can be sure they will come up with one stellar knock during the remaining match.
Kick these people out and bring in fresh talent.