PakPassion.net spoke with former Pakistan batsman Basit Ali who, while expressing his views on Pakistan’s choice of personnel for the Australian challenge, lambasted the national selection committee for making some “unintelligent” decisions.

by Nimra Ishtiaq

14th August 2012 

The national selection committee recently announced Pakistan’s 16-member squad for the three-match ODI series against Australia which will commence on August 28 in the United Arab Emirates. The most notable changes in the squad include the exclusion of experienced batsman Younis Khan and spearhead fast bowler, Umar Gul and the return of all rounder Shoaib Malik and wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal.

PakPassion.net spoke with former Pakistan batsman Basit Ali who, while expressing his views on Pakistan’s choice of personnel for the Australian challenge, lambasted the national selection committee for making some “unintelligent” decisions. 

When asked to comment on the selectors’ decision to not include Younis Khan in the squad, Basit stated “In my view, it is an unintelligent decision as you’ve dropped your key player just because of his recent performance against Sri Lanka. The sad part is that the chief selector Iqbal Qasim is himself a former cricketer and he has seen that Younis Khan was given out wrongly four times in the series. Yet, Younis has been dropped.”

Whilst Younis Khan remains one of Pakistan’s crucial players in Test cricket, he has been found struggling in the 50-over version of the game in the last few years. He finished as Pakistan’s best ODI batsman in 2008, but his form has regressed since then. Since January 2009, he has scored 1,546 runs in 63 innings at an average of 26.20 and following his below par performance in the last ODI series against Sri Lanka, the selectors opted to “rest” the veteran batsman for the upcoming series against Australia. However, Basit Ali stated that the 34-year old batsman will be “sorely missed during the Australian series” and that he is certainly capable of making a comeback to the one day format.

“Younis Khan is a very big-hearted man, a true patriot. Considering the kind of guy he is, he will most definitely make a comeback. Although he’s 34 years old, he is the fittest player in the team alongside Misbah-ul-Haq.”

Fast bowler Mohammad Sami who recently made a comeback to One Day cricket in June this year has once again been dropped following his infamous last over in the fifth ODI against Sri Lanka where he conceded 15 runs in 4 balls. Commenting on Sami's exclusion, Basit stated “You’ve got Mohammad Sami in the T20 squad but have shaken his confidence by dropping him from the squad for the ODI series against Australia. They [the selectors] are my seniors but I’m sorry to say they seem to have no knowledge which format a player is suited for!”

Ali further added “I’m unable to understand what they’re preparing for. Are they preparing for the 2015 World Cup? You have to prepare for the upcoming T20 World Cup, and for that, you should give confidence to the players who are going to feature in that tournament. They’ve destroyed Mohammad Sami’s confidence by dropping him from the ODI side ahead of the T20 World Cup. This is not about likes or dislikes – this is plain politics.”

When asked for his comments on the recalling of allrounder Shoaib Malik and wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal, Basit Ali seconded the selection committee’s decision stating “I think they’ve done the right thing by selecting Shoaib Malik. Kamran Akmal’s batting is much better than all of the other wicket-keepers in Pakistan, so bringing him back is also the right decision.”

The former middle order batsman from Karachi was also unhappy with the fast bowling line-up selected for the ODI series. “They have picked Aizaz Cheema, but not Umar Gul. Ask them why they selected Umar Gul in the T-20 squad then. Aizaz Cheema is not a good bowler while Umar Gul is. ”

Speaking of his choice of pacers, Basit Ali said “If there’s one fast bowler who has done well in all of the Ramadan cricket tournaments recently, it’s Mohammad Irfan. He looked fit and he bowled well. Not selecting him shows that these guys do not know who is suited to which form of cricket. Irfan’s height gives him a big advantage - that’s what these selectors are unable to understand and this is what will continue to happen for as long as people like Azhar Khan are in the selection committee.”

Mohammad Irfan, the tall medium-fast bowler from Gaggu Mandi remained wicketless in the two ODIs that he played against England in September 2010 and has been overlooked since. His performance in the recently concluded Advance Telecom 2nd Corporate T20 tournament at the Moin Khan Academy, Karachi greatly impressed Basit Ali who termed him as “the best fast bowler on show”. 

“Among all of the fast bowlers who have come after Shoaib Akhtar in Pakistan, I don’t think I’ve seen anyone bowl as well as Irfan has been doing these days,” Basit concluded.