Golden boy no more: Qadir blasts preferential treatment of Amir

Believes others such as Gul and Junaid have been unfairly treated

KARACHI: Former chief selector Abdul Qadir has accused the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) selection committee of favouritism and questioned fast-bowler Mohammad Amir’s automatic selection in the team despite his struggles since returning to international cricket.

The 24-year-old Amir has struggled to replicate his match-winning exploits before the infamous spot-fixing scandal saw him banned for five years.

In the eight Test matches that Amir has played since his return, the left-arm pacer has claimed only 25 wickets while his average of 37 is also on the higher side.



“The selectors are destroying the careers of other fast-bowlers by giving preferential treatment to Amir,” complained Qadir. “I’ve been watching Amir since his return and he has not performed as per expectations.”

Qadir, regarded as one of the game’s finest-ever leg-spinners, said that by favouring Amir the selectors have been unfair to other pacers such as the discarded Junaid Khan and Umar Gul.

“Just to pave the way for Amir, the selectors are destroying the careers of experienced bowlers such as Umar Gul and Junaid Khan, who spearheaded Pakistan’s pace attack in the difficult times when Amir and [Muhammad] Asif were banned from cricket,” said the 61-year-old.





Qadir felt that even those within the squad have also suffered due to this. “Not just Junaid and Gul but pacers currently in the squad such as Sohail Khan are also bearing the brunt of this favouritism,” he said. “Sohail’s performance was brilliant in the Test series against England, including a five-wicket haul against England in the Birmingham Test. He should have been included for the ODI series on that tour but Amir was preferred to him despite being less impressive.”

The former Test captain also questioned why Amir is the only one of the ‘tainted trio’ to be included in the side, while the other two are being consistently overlooked. “Amir’s partners in the spot-fixing case, Salman Butt and Asif, are still struggling to return to international cricket despite their good performances in domestic cricket but Amir was picked without much exposure on the domestic circuit,” he said. “This approach of personal likes and dislikes must stop because it is damaging Pakistan cricket.”



‘Selection committee aiming for consistency’

Despite Qadir’s claims, PCB selector Tauseef Ahmed defended the selection of the players, insisting that they are based purely on performances.

Tauseef, himself a former Test spinner, defended the underfire pacer. “Amir’s performances have been satisfactory,” he said, before pointing out the reason behind Amir’s poor statistics. “He is bowling with good rhythm but he has been unfortunate. If you see in recent matches, around a dozen catches have been dropped off his bowling.”

Tauseef also said that no player is ever ruled out of the side, with the selectors looking to hand out more opportunities. “The selection committee is adopting a policy of consistency according to which every player will get due chance to show their worth.”

Published in The Express Tribune, December 2^nd, 2016.

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