Revival of school, club cricket crucial: Sallu

'Incompetent coaches like Azhar Mahmood don't deserve to be with the team', says ex-chief selector

KARACHI:

"Pakistan Cricket continues to suffer due to incompetent people and the PCB should ensure that right people for the right job are selected for key posts."

This was stated by former Test cricketer and Chief selector Salahuddin Ahmed Sallu while speaking to the Express Tribune on Tuesday.

Feeling quite dejected after Pakistan's ten-wicket defeat at the hands of Bangladesh in the first Test, Sallu said it was painful to see the national team's graph going down with each passing day.

"I feel really hurt to see our team losing so many matches. This was never the case with Pakistan which used to be a force to be reckoned with in international cricket for so many years in the past," stated Sallu.

"I have remained associated with Pakistan Cricket for more than 30 years and have seen our team scoring such splendid victories. We can still revive our cricket if we resurrect things at the grassroot level and reorganize school and club cricket," observed Sallu who held the selector's position for a world record ten times." So many of our great players came from school and club cricket which can be the key for revival."

He insisted that tough decisions are the need of the hour to put the game on the right path. "While I commend the measures taken by PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi , I would like to advise him to make domestic cricket participation mandatory for the players."

"Also, I had pointed it out before that incompetent people like Azhar Mahmood are damaging our cricket and we must get rid of them at the earliest," insisted Sallu. "He was sacked by Islamabad United during the PSL 8 season due to his inability to motivate or guide the players, so why are we carrying him with the team?"

The seasoned official also observed that the team coaches were not performing their duties with diligence which was evident in the manner Pakistani batsmen were getting out. "The reckless shot played by Saud Shakeel in the second innings was shocking. I have seldom seen a player stumped in such a harrowing manner as he left the crease without even looking at the trajectory of the ball," noted Sallu.

"Besides, the way Shan Masood, Babar Azam and the other got out in the second innings showed the lack of application on their part. The coaches must groom our batsmen to deal with pressure situations."

Sallu also observed that Pakistan's bowlers never posed any real threat to the Bangladesh players. "I feel the Bangladesh bowlers exploited the pitch and the conditions at Pindi much better than Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah and others. Australia's bowling coach Jason Gillespie must work on this and coach our bowlers to be effective in all conditions.

"I am also amazed why we went into the Test without a specialist spinner like Abrar Ahmed which proved costly for us," concluded Sallu.