Last chance for a talent unfulfilled

So why Sami and not anyone from our contracted players? We have Rana Naved, though not an out and out pace bowler, he has many strings to his bow. Rana is quite expensive though and this is probably the reason why he has never been favoured in Tests. Then there’s Sohail Tanvir and Yasir Arafat, both of whom can bat a bit and would have added strength to an already fragile batting line up. We also have Sohail Khan, a young raw talent who’s played just the one Test, against Sri Lanka earlier this year in which he failed to take any wickets and went for more than 6 runs per over. Also, there have been better performing fast bowlers on the domestic circuit, yet because of the poor quality of our domestic league, we cannot really use those performances as the be all and end all argument, whether it’s for or against the selection of any player.

I do not want to be too critical of Sami’s inclusion as I just have the sneaky feeling that if he does play, he will do quite well. After all, if Sami ever wanted an incentive to succeed, here it is. Having been in the wilderness since 2007 and now almost 29 years of age, with the emergence of the likes of Mohammad Aamer, even Sami would not have imagined he’d get an opportunity like this.

What seems to have worked in Sami’s favour is his experience at the top level and the fact that he has played in Australia before. In December 2004, Sami took 5 wickets in two Tests, having bowled 68 overs at almost 4.5 runs an over. Another advantage is the fact that Waqar Younis, who Sami has played and worked with before, will be with the team as bowling coach. Considering the above, his inclusion does seem to be a reasonable decision. Looking at it from Sami’s point of view, it is a great chance for him to get back in the team and go some way to fulfilling his obvious potential.

Compared to 2007-8, Misbah has not had a great time of it this year, visibly struggling to play his natural game. Even though, his ODI average has still been a useful 33.33, better than Shoab Malik, Kamran Akmal, Shahid Afridi and our captain at the time of writing, Younis Khan. In case you don’t believe me, click here.

The figures above show that it was a not only Misbah who struggled but for some reason he has been the one sacrificed. When looking at an individual’s performances, they must, as above, be put into context. Pakistan have played on some tough batting pitches of late in Sri Lanka and the UAE. In the 5 match ODI series against Australia in the UAE, the team batting first scored over 210 on only one occasion. Our batting performances in general have not been great of late.

Add to this the fact that Misbah usually comes in lower down the order where it is not possible to make large scores and where there is little time to settle. He also has had to often sacrifice his wicket for the sake of the team.

At 35, the argument may be that Pakistan are looking to the future and bringing in young talent but this is not an argument I like as it has its flaws and people seem to use it as if youth guarantees success. Are we always going to be playing our cricket in the future? It seems that way. The future is in the future, what about the here and now? We must get the balance right.

Having picked such large squads, it’s even more dumbfounding that Misbah was not included. The squads have been filled with openers as Wasim at Cricket Files rightly argues, but the the middle order is left looking weak. Salman Butt who has been brought back for no reason, could easily have been sacrificed for Misbah.

Chief selector Iqbal Qasim said of Misbah’s exclusion: “He has been given rest because we think he is under pressure and needs time to regroup himself,”, But, when someone is out of form, they need games, not rest. A word in his ear but a vote of confidence by retaining him in the squads would have done Misbah much more good than dropping him so he could ‘regroup’

The weak Pakistan domestic leagues have attributed a false sense of ability to all the new faces included in the announced squads for the sake of the tried and tested Misbah Ul-Haq. These new faces will inevitably struggle on the unforgiving stage which is international cricket.

Squads:
Tests: Salman Butt, Khurrum Manzoor, Imran Farhat, Younis Khan (capt), Mohammad Yousuf, Shoaib Malik, Fawad Alam, Faisal Iqbal, Kamran Akmal (wk), Danish Kaneria, Saeed Ajmal, Yasir Arafat, Umar Gul, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Aamer, Abdur Rauf, Umar Akmal, Sarfraz Ahmad

One-dayers: Salman Butt, Imran Farhat, Khalid Latif, Younis Khan (capt), Mohammad Yousuf, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Kamran Akmal (wk), Abdul Razzaq, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Shahid Afridi, Saeed Ajmal, Umar Gul, Mohammad Aamer, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Wahab Riaz

Twenty20: Khalid Latif, Imran Nazir, Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi (capt), Kamran Akmal (wk), Abdul Razzaq, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Umar Gul, Mohammad Aamer, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Saeed Ajmal, Imran Farhat, Fawad Alam, Sohail Tanvir