Inzamam-ul-Haq defends Kamran Akmal and Ahmed Shehzad's performances

[Abdullah719]

LAHORE - Chief selector Inzamamul Haq Sunday said that fast bowler Rahat Ali was not selected for the West Indies tour due to fitness issues.

Speaking at a press conference, the chief selector said: “After Australia tour, Rahat Ali didn’t play any cricket. He was not able to bowl well, undoubtedly he is a good bowler when in rhythm,” he added, “Micky Aurthur couldn’t see what we saw in his bowling.” He also said that Rahat Ali was picked for the Pakistan Cup by Punjab team but he has to withdrew from the event due to the same injury issues. “Rahat is a very good bowler and he remains in our future planning,” said the chief selector.

Inzamam also defended the below-par performances of the Pakistan openers Ahmad Shahzad and Kamran Akmal in the recently concluded limited over series’ in the West Indies. He said though both did not give the performance as per expectations, however, the senior players must be given trust by the selectors.

He said Kamran gave tremendous and consistent performance in domestic season but playing international cricket after a long time is not easy for any player. He hoped that he would come good in future and reposed his confidence in his abilities.

Inzamam said they wanted to give equal and proper opportunities to everyone and only that player would remain in the team who would perform well. He also defended sloppy fielding of the wicket-keeping batsman saying he did not have any previous exposure of fielding and hoped he would settle down soon.

“They are good players, if they have not yet played according to our expectations, they may give their performances in next coming matches. Ahmed Shahzad have joined the team after a long time so there is obviously pressure on him. We should give our trust to the players who we have selected.”

About bowlers below par performances, Inzamam said they wanted to give proper time to players to come good. “We will find and send the replacement of every player if demanded by the team management but we also have to stay focused on the upcoming task that is the ICC Champions Trophy.”

Inzamam said the selectors wanted to give players confidence ahead of the mega event and hoped that Pakistan bowlers would come into the rhythm.

http://nation.com.pk/sports/17-Apr-2...d-performances

[pakistanigoneaussie]

Stop being so nice

[Citizen4]

that means Kamran and Shehzad will open in all matches of CT, and Hafeez will continue to disturb the team balance by playing at 3/4.

and Rahat is in future plans? WOW! a fast bowler who is almost 30, averages 38 both home and away, is in the future plans. Disusting statement. So frustrating to read.

[cricketInsight]

We shouldn't expect Shehzad or Kamran to be discarded after one tour. Shehzad will actually improve his standing by scoring a few runs in the Tests.

Kamran is the one with some pressure on but I fully expect him to open in CT but failure there could be the end of his path.

[Markhor]

I'm all for giving time but its not like Kamran and Shehzad haven't had sufficient opportunities to prove their worth.

Do we really a need a debacle in the CT before we clear out the deadwood ?

[Syed1]

Inzi just being his revolutionary self.

[Big Mac]

I cannot sanction this Rahat disrespect

[SarfiBabarHaris]

Inzi bhai please yar

there flaws are so visible.

[hitthestump]

He's got to back them, as chief selector he knows better than anyone that there's nobody else waiting to take their place!

[phoenix363]

I wonder how important performance in the ongoing Pakistan Cup is for selection in the Champions trophy.

The interview above suggests they will stick with those openers, however surely a strong showing from Amin or Fakhar will see them given a chance, particularly if Kami has a bad tournament.

Having said that, Inzamam seems to unfortunately have regressed to the standard of our other selectors so will value 'experience' and not risk playing a new or relatively new player in the Champiosn trophy.

[Speedster777]

Inzamam is the worst selector we've had

[KyoOne]

No question on Fawad Alam? Poor kid does not even gets mentioned by chief selector or the biased journalists

[Shafi]

This hack selector needs to be removed ASAP.

[Square Drive]

Worst selector ever.

Should be deported from the country.

Absolute filth all round.

[Pete Rose]

I think it is a thoughtful statement from Inzi and based on giving confidence to the players.
But it is also a statement I don't agree with - anyone who saw those odis against West Indies knows that it was not an issue of confidence. These two guys were performing at their peak: both were dropped early in their innings throughout the series, neither had a consecutive decent games (as reflected by their average), and neither had done any work to fix their issues of strike rotation.
These two have no further room for growth. It would be a pity to have this validated at the champion trophy.

[GoUgandaCranes]

the issues that i have with this statement are as

1. why is confidence being given to players who have been tried and tested and failed (because they are not just good enough and never have been) while youngsters make one mistake and they are sent packing?

2. the domestic cricket performance is such a sad metric again. some players have almost been ignored despite their good domestic stats while some are recalled because they have done well. in the case of ignored players they continue to say that they are one trick ponies and only perform in such and such conditions but the other ones are good because they have good domestic stats.

3. what does he mean by the 'focus on champions tropy'? what is being done on that? is there an a-team tour being sent to uk? have they realized which seam bowling all-rounder is going to go to uk with the main team?

4. rahat ali. ok. do not even need to elaborate that. rahat amazing ali. wow.

[Madplayer]

the issues that i have with this statement are as

1. why is confidence being given to players who have been tried and tested and failed (because they are not just good enough and never have been) while youngsters make one mistake and they are sent packing?

2. the domestic cricket performance is such a sad metric again. some players have almost been ignored despite their good domestic stats while some are recalled because they have done well. in the case of ignored players they continue to say that they are one trick ponies and only perform in such and such conditions but the other ones are good because they have good domestic stats.

3. what does he mean by the 'focus on champions tropy'? what is being done on that? is there an a-team tour being sent to uk? have they realized which seam bowling all-rounder is going to go to uk with the main team?

4. rahat ali. ok. do not even need to elaborate that. rahat amazing ali. wow.

The issue i have with these statements is, why give so many statements? The media persons could be kept away if Inzi wanted it. I dont think any other chief selector makes so many statements.

[GoUgandaCranes]

The issue i have with these statements is, why give so many statements? The media persons could be kept away if Inzi wanted it. I dont think any other chief selector makes so many statements.

nahi. i want them to make statements and explain what they are doing. what i do not want is the board presidents to make too many statements. selectors should come forward and explain their decisions and everything in my opinion.

kinda helps you gauge what direction they are taking. only because of this statement we already know that our champions trophy team will be having akmal and i have already canceled my plans to watch the cricket match despite being in england at that time.

[waleed88]

By the time Inzi bhai learns how to be a chief selector, he will probably be removed from the post. Most likely thing to happen after an imminent Champions Trophy Debacle or a defeat to India

[waleed88]

I don't think Inzi is behind these decisions. Inzi is just the face who appears to make these decisions. Orders come from the top. Kami and Shehzad are well connected everyone knows that..

[Slog]

this is the one consistently insane logic i will never get

Player A has a history of poor performances at international level
Player A performs poorly on his return
But that is WHY he should be persisted with and rewarded with different batting slots to see where can he performs

[ask_analyse_act]

He's got to back them, as chief selector he knows better than anyone that there's nobody else waiting to take their place!

nobody else.. have they tried Umar amin after given only one chance as opener and then never give it again.. have they tried hard hitting batsmen like Maqsood, Umar Akmal as openers... What better can shehzad make than Azhar do...Both are same, atleast azhar puts price on his wicket and make some runs..or have they tried Haris sohail as opener when he was coming to bat at no.3 always when the first wicket gone in first 3 overs..They have so many options, but they dont have a thinking brain like the parosis, who made Dhawan and Sharma as openers from nowhere, drop raina for kohli at no.3.. I still do see that in the on-going domestics one-day cup that analogy of "save ur best batsman at down the order"... cricket has evolved and pak still play kamran akmal

[Bilal7]

Good comments by Inzamam. I agree with everyone else that Kamran should be discarded by the CS is doing a good job by giving him more than a single series to show what he has left. Not only does this bode well for when some of the PP favorites fail in a series or two, it also deprives Kamran of any sort of excuse if he ends up failing like predicted.

Shehzad is 25 and has a decade of cricket in front of him. Good job by Inzi for giving him confidence and the time to showcase his strengths. The test series will do him good since that is his strongest format and he can use it to get his swagger back.

Inzamam, if he's willing and has the time, should be our Chief Selector for another five-six years, at least. Fantastic to see him not only bring new players into the team but also be fair to the ones that are already in it.

[last_knight]

By the time Inzi bhai learns how to be a chief selector, he will probably be removed from the post. Most likely thing to happen after an imminent Champions Trophy Debacle or a defeat to India

Nah nah. We have a coach to blame.

Inzi made his debut in early 90s. 18 years experience of playing int'l cricket and couple of years as consultant. That rules out any possibility of a Change/Learning in approach.

[waleed88]

Nah nah. We have a coach to blame.

Inzi made his debut in early 90s. 18 years experience of playing int'l cricket and couple of years as consultant. That rules out any possibility of a Change/Learning in approach.

You underestimate a defeat to India bhai jaan.. achay acho ki chutti hojati hai

[MMHS]

LAHORE - Chief selector Inzamamul Haq Sunday said that fast bowler Rahat Ali was not selected for the West Indies tour due to fitness issues.

Speaking at a press conference, the chief selector said: “After Australia tour, Rahat Ali didn’t play any cricket. He was not able to bowl well, undoubtedly he is a good bowler when in rhythm,” he added, “Micky Aurthur couldn’t see what we saw in his bowling.” He also said that Rahat Ali was picked for the Pakistan Cup by Punjab team but he has to withdrew from the event due to the same injury issues. “Rahat is a very good bowler and he remains in our future planning,” said the chief selector.

Inzamam also defended the below-par performances of the Pakistan openers Ahmad Shahzad and Kamran Akmal in the recently concluded limited over series’ in the West Indies. He said though both did not give the performance as per expectations, however, the senior players must be given trust by the selectors.

He said Kamran gave tremendous and consistent performance in domestic season but playing international cricket after a long time is not easy for any player. He hoped that he would come good in future and reposed his confidence in his abilities.

Inzamam said they wanted to give equal and proper opportunities to everyone and only that player would remain in the team who would perform well. He also defended sloppy fielding of the wicket-keeping batsman saying he did not have any previous exposure of fielding and hoped he would settle down soon.

“They are good players, if they have not yet played according to our expectations, they may give their performances in next coming matches. Ahmed Shahzad have joined the team after a long time so there is obviously pressure on him. We should give our trust to the players who we have selected.”

About bowlers below par performances, Inzamam said they wanted to give proper time to players to come good. “We will find and send the replacement of every player if demanded by the team management but we also have to stay focused on the upcoming task that is the ICC Champions Trophy.”

Inzamam said the selectors wanted to give players confidence ahead of the mega event and hoped that Pakistan bowlers would come into the rhythm.

http://nation.com.pk/sports/17-Apr-2...d-performances

The gist of the bold part is - I have my list in my mind whom to pick & whom not to, you can bubble around. I have my favorites to serve & my reputation is enough to justify my picks, don't bother to question why.

The gist of the underline part is - I'll tell what is ideal case scenario, but there'll always be subjective calls (depending on whom I need to apply)

The gist of the italic part is - Azhar, Umar is sure to make a come back, may be Umar Gul as well.

[The_Odd_One]

Pakistan is not beating any top teams with these TTFs. I have watched enough games already which Pakistan lost with these TTFs. The outcome will be the same in CT.

Kamran Akmal is not going to become a 40+ averaging batsman magically overnight and neither is Shehzad going to bat at 100+ SR. People who believe otherwise are free to believe in unicorns too.