Test squad for England tour

Chief selector Inzamamul Haq’s first major task was to choose a squad for the four-match Test series for the tour to England. After deliberations that lasted weeks, the final squad of 17 isn’t much different from what had been expected, other than the shocking omission of the most successful first class batsman in the country — Fawad Alam. The left-hander, who averages a healthy 57 in first class cricket was left out without being given a single opportunity to play in the last Test series that Pakistan were involved in — also against England in the UAE last year. Instead, the selectors opted for middle order batsman Iftikhar Ahmed and his selection has been justified on the grounds that he would provide the team with a spin bowling option. If that was the reason for Iftikhar’s selection, then this is indeed inexplicable, given that not only does Alam have a superior batting record, he could also have provided the team with this much sought-after spin bowling option.

Apart from this controversial omission, most of the rest of the players are automatic selections, with the likes of captain Misbahul Haq, veteran batsman Younus Khan, Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq and Sarfraz Ahmed forming a solid middle order, while Shan Masood, Sami Aslam and the experienced Mohammad Hafeez will provide the opening options. The bowling attack looks promising with Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz, Yasir Shah and Zulfiqar Babar while fast bowler Sohail Khan returns to international cricket after spending more than a year in the wilderness. The Test series against England is all set to provide a huge challenge for a Pakistani side that has notched up some great victories in the familiar environs of the UAE, while remaining untested in foreign conditions. The kind of performance that Pakistan put up in this series as well as in the one in Australia later in the year will determine the kind of legacy that the two veterans, Misbah and Younus, will leave behind as well as the kind of future the national team may have under new coach Mickey Arthur.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 10^th, 2016.

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