Pakistan players celebrate the dismissal of South Africa's batsman Hashim Amla after he was caught out by Misbahul Haq. PHOTO: REUTERS
KARACHI: Despite the team’s unimpressive performance on the tour of South Africa, the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) selection committee may decide against making wholesale changes in the squad ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy.
With the marathon tour concluding yesterday, the selectors will immediately switch their focus to the last edition of the tournament that will be played in England from June 6.
According to a selector, all the members of the selection committee will assemble at the board’s headquarters in Lahore later this week to finalise the 30-man preliminary squad.
“The selection committee will kick off the series of meetings this week,” a selector told The Express Tribune. “We also have plans to hold meetings with the coach [Dav Whatmore] and captain [Misbahul Haq].”
He added the PCB asked the selection committee has to finalise and submit the names of the probables by April 4.
Selectors oppose overhaul
Meanwhile, in its initial reaction on calls for removal of the senior players, the selector hinted an overhaul in the team may not happen.
“It will not be appropriate to remove the seniors as their experience will be needed in the Champions Trophy.
“The conditions in England will also be challenging and we cannot afford to rely completely on inexperienced players.
“Plus, if we assess our performance in the ODI series against South Africa, it wasn’t a complete disappointment.”
However, the selectors signalled for chances of few notable snubs in the preliminary squad.
“There are some players who will be assessed thoroughly.
“Younus [Khan] will be one of them as he is struggling since a long time. There will be a strong debate on his selection.”
Published in The Express Tribune, March 25th, 2013.
COMMENTS (9)
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This is how a Team Should Be in upcoming Champions League 2013:
Ahmed Shahzad Nasir Jamshed Harris Sohail M. Hafeez (C) Umar Akmal (WK) Asad Shafiq Hammad Azam Umar Gul Saeed Ajmal Junaid Khan M. Irfan
This article completely proves that the influential people in the PCB are getting something against the selection of the non deserving players,maybe money or some commission.How can the PCB stick to such useless players for so long, there has to be a strong reason and money can only be such a reason, honestly!
Take out all the seniors and GUL also.
Kick Younis, Afridi, Kamran, Malik out of the team. Misbah also needs to lay out a plan for his retirement. I am not confident on Hafeez. He is not a specialist in any form (batting, bowling or fielding). I really doubt his leadership skills to carry out after Misbah.
Pakistan team needs few new faces like of Azeem Ghumman (former under 19 Captain), Hammad Azam another former under 19 players and Akbar ur Rehman of Karachi who has scored about 1000 runs in ten matches with an average of nearly 90 and have taken 22 wickets at an average of 17 in the current domestic season. We have been relying on bunch of about twenty players; it is about time to get some new faces to have more competition among the players.
A major overhaling needed. Drop YK, Umer Gul, Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Wahab Riaz and give time line to Hafeez to sort out his issues. From the tes squad drop Hafeez, Umer Gul and Misbah. For me Hafeez is a Limited over specialist only.
YK in England 14 Matches, 374 Runs, Bat avg 31.16 (Lower than career avg 31.88), Below Avg Performance. (Not Phenomenal Records). So Plz drop YK and select Haris Sohail on his place.
Misbah has saved his spot but hafeez. Oh my..... I think Younus and Afridi shall be missing. No wait England hai. Dont you dare drop Younus
Funny how they jumped on YK promptly, I wonder what their opinions are on kamran,malik and farhat??. Pakistan will need his experience in England, he has a phenominal record in those conditions.