Pakistan team manager Yawar Saeed has denied reports over former captain Shoaib Malik’s omission from the playing eleven against Australia and has instead blamed Malik’s poor form of late for his exclusion.
Malik, who has only played four Tests in the last twelve months, was outshone by Azhar Ali and Umar Amin in the warm-up match against Leicestershire that preceded the first Test. He scored a 27 and an unbeaten 48 in last month’s three-day match against Kent and it was the youngsters’ performance, according to Saeed, that got them the nod ahead of Malik.
“The decision to drop Malik was purely a cricketing reason given the team’s needs and requirements,” said Saeed.
Saeed also confirmed that the management and the board has permitted Indian tennis star Sania Mirza, Malik’s wife, to stay with the former captain for a month. It was believed that Malik spent too much time with Sania and also missed training which brought him the axe, a speculation rubbished by the team manager.
Malik last hit a Test century in July 2009 against Sri Lanka – after a gap of three years –but it was his performance on the tour so far that forced his ouster following his comeback in the squad after having his year-long ban and fine overturned by the Pakistan Cricket Board. It is also believed that captain Shahid Afridi has preferred to play youngsters in the squad despite the testing conditions against the moving ball.
Published in The Express Tribune,July 15th, 2010.
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