Sources close to the selection committee revealed to PakPassion.net that tensions are rising between Mohammad Ilyas and Mohsin Khan and Ilyas' decision to continue as a selector may be short lived.

by Saj Sadiq

4 December 2010

 

Selector Mohammad Ilyas, the father in law of Pakistan opening batsman Imran Farhat resigned after a recent heated selection committee meeting in which Ilyas and Chief Selector Mohsin Khan disagreed over the selection of left handed middle order batsman Fawad Alam.

64 year old former test batsman Mohammad Ilyas, subsequently resigned after the announcement of the Test and Twenty20 squads for the upcoming tour of New Zealand. Ilyas' resignation though was short lived as Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Ijaz Butt spoke with close friend Ilyas and refused to accept his resignation. Following the discussions with Butt, Ilyas reversed his decision to resign and has reluctantly agreed to continue his role as a selector.

However sources close to the selection committee revealed to PakPassion.net that tensions are rising between Mohammad Ilyas and Mohsin Khan and Ilyas' decision to continue as a selector may be short lived.

"Ilyas was very unhappy with Fawad Alam's selection in the Twenty/20 squad for New Zealand and as a result of this decision he resigned. He (Ilyas) is of the opinion that Fawad does not deserve a place in the Twenty/20 squad and that there are more deserving players than Fawad who should have been chosen ahead of the 25 year old National Bank batsman."

Ilyas though did not put son in law Imran Farhat's name forward as a replacement for Fawad, but did question why Alam was being persisted with despite a highest twenty over international score of only twenty eight and a paltry average of only 18.50 in sixteen innings, spread over twenty three matches. 

The source also revealed that Ilyas is unhappy with Mohsin Khan's role as Chief Selector and that Ilyas feels that Khan is not attending enough domestic matches or indeed doing enough research on up and coming talent in Pakistan.

"Things are getting rather heated between Ilyas and Mohsin and there is some tension there. Things came to a loggerhead when Mohsin wanted Fawad Alam in the Twenty20 squad and Ilyas was strongly against Fawad's inclusion. Ilyas is back, but who knows for how long. Ilyas is a strong minded character and will stand up against something that he does not approve of. Ilyas is of the opinion that Fawad does not warrant his selection in the squad and made his feelings clear during the recent selection committee meetings. He was unhappy though that he was overruled and no strong argument was given for the inclusion of Fawad."

The selectors next assigment will be to pick the one day squad for the tour of New Zealand. The one day squad is due to be chosen before the second test match in New Zealand and will play a large part in determining who represents Pakistan at next year’s World Cup.