Our team desperately needs a full-time wicket-keeper, with ability to score runs, instead of a part-time wicket-keeper
LAHORE: There is no dearth of cricketing talent in Pakistan. All that is required is proper coaching and selection on merit. Individual performances helped Pakistan win crucial matches against India and Bangladesh in the Asia Cup, ensuring our entry into the final of the tournament against Sri Lanka. However, victory should not shroud glaring weaknesses in team selection and performance of players. The choice of team management accompanying the players matters a lot. The unfortunate incident of three key players caught in the spot-fixing saga in England could have been averted if the manager and coach had played their roles properly.
In the match against Bangladesh, the selection committee and the team management must be held accountable for selecting Abdur Rehman in the playing-eleven. The left-arm spinner, strangely, could not bowl a single legal delivery. Also, it is time Umar Akmal starts using his mind for shot selection, instead of flashing his bat at every other ball, without realising that taking singles could also achieve the target. Our team desperately needs a full-time wicket-keeper, with the ability to score runs, instead of a part-time wicket-keeper. Wicket-keeping requires patience, focus, anticipation and coordination with bowlers, and a specialist wicker-keeper plays a major role in winning matches. Our fielding has improved, but has still not achieved the level required in international matches, where athletic agility and physical fitness are a necessity. A lot of work still has to be done so that running between the wickets is done with effective communication and coordination between batsmen.
Malik Tariq Ali
Published in The Express Tribune, March 7th, 2014.
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