After Old Trafford debacle: Shoaib calls for changes ahead of third Test

Former selector wants team to replace Wahab, Masood after embarrassing showing

KARACHI: Pakistan’s dismal performance in the second Test at Old Trafford against hosts England has led to former Test player Shoaib Mohammad calling for at least two changes in the side for the third Test at Edgbaston.

However, Shoaib has said opener Mohammad Hafeez should not be one of those facing the axe, stating that the right-hander can deliver a good knock or two if the team management persists with him.

The celebrations of a 75-run win at Lord’s in the opening Test have subsided in a matter of days, with England bouncing back in emphatic fashion during a very one-sided affair in Manchester.



Shoaib said it is important for Pakistan to ring the changes, pointing out Shaan Masood and Wahab Riaz as the ones who should be rested for the all-important third Test.

“England isn’t an easy place for the top-order and their failure was kind of expected,” Shoaib told The Express Tribune. “You can see that England have worked out each and every player of Pakistan and youngster Shaan is finding it hard, so I feel that he should make room for Sami Aslam but they should still stick with Hafeez. The reason I would persist with Hafeez is that he can produce a good knock or two in the remaining two Tests.”

The 55-year-old also backed Pakistan’s number three and four to come good, despite unconvincing knocks in the two Tests so far. “As for Azhar and Younus, I would say that they have looked edgy but they are also capable of bouncing back after these failures and they have shown that in their careers,” he said.



Shoaib, who has worked as a selector and fielding coach for Pakistan, said everyone was thinking it was the army’s boot camp which allowed Pakistan to win the first Test; which was the wrong sort of mentality.

“Pakistan won at Lord’s because of the team’s skills and the fact that England played poor shots, not because of the fitness camp,” he said. “These fitness camps are good but nothing can replace your skill set.”

And Shoaib believes the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) should be prioritising on enhancing the players’ skills rather than just their fitness. “The PCB’s foremost priority should have been to have a skill camp where the players could have enhanced their game for English conditions but sadly for the last two years, we have suddenly become obsessed with producing super athletes,” he said.



“If I was the coach, I would look at the pitch and then decide whether to play a spinner or a seamer in the third Test in place of Wahab, who looks out of sorts,” added Shoaib. “Left-arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar and right-arm pacers Sohail Khan and Imran Khan are all capable of adding value in this team.”

However, the former batsman warned against making too many changes. “I would back the rest of the team to fight in this series because it’s still 1-1,” he said. “One important thing which our batsmen need to understand is that they will get fewer deliveries to hit boundaries on and they need to choose them wisely.”

Published in The Express Tribune, July 26^th, 2016.

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