Has the wrong-footed Tanvir been wronged?

They say strange things happen in Pakistan cricket and, even on the eve of the World Cup, the trend continues.

After the injury to Junaid Khan, the team management’s request for a reinforcement of their choice gets vetoed by Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Shaharyar Khan since the veteran diplomat isn’t convinced by the form and fitness of the man the management reposed their confidence in — Sohail Tanvir.

Two years eight months since an inauspicious ODI debut, left-arm fast bowler Rahat Ali — renowned for his exploits in the longer format of the game — finds a berth in Pakistan’s World Cup squad.

The Multan-born’s figures in the latest National One Day competition, the President’s Cup, border on the mediocre — eight wickets at an average of 32.37 — but Shaharyar overlooked his returns and Tanvir’s expertise in death over bowling to choose the rookie.

While Tanvir hasn’t necessarily set the world alight in recent domestic and international matches, his experience of 62 outings in the 50-over format should surely have made him a frontrunner at least when his competition was a white-ball novice shunned from the smaller formats for a considerable time.

After the induction of Rahat, the team clad in lime green is fielding arguably its greenest bowling attack in a World Cup in terms of experience.

Rahat is wicket-less, Ehsan Adil has snared just two in four games, Yasir Shah has appeared in one match and has two wickets, while Sohail Khan has claimed six in five ODIs.

On one hand, Shaharyar Khan — a seasoned cricket administrator — is concerned about Tanvir’s form and fitness, but on the other, gives in to an outrageous selection decision.



If Tanvir didn’t check all the boxes on Shaharyar’s list, the chairman should have asked the think tank in Sydney to consider experienced options such as Muhammad Sami and Umar Gul, or perhaps even recommended a spinner.

Over the years, interventions from those at the top have derailed, or jumpstarted, careers of many cricketers. The chairmen claim repeatedly that they don’t influence selection of the players and leave the job to the experts — the selectors and the team management — but their actions clearly contradict their claims.

At the same time, the chairman cannot be solely held responsible for Rahat’s selection. If the team management was indeed convinced about Tanvir’s abilities, then why did they leave him out of the original squad and also didn’t include him after Junaid pulled out of the New Zealand tour?

Rahat was not even in the running for the World Cup, so much so that the selectors didn’t even include him in the preliminary 30-member squad.

The 26-year-old made his List A debut in 2008 and in almost seven years has played a mere 28 games in the 50-over format at an average of just four matches a year.

Skipper Misbahul Haq, who has remained the only constant in the ever-changing Pakistan team management, has once again taken a U-turn on a player. The national captain never had Rahat in his ODI plans; even in his only match in Sri Lanka, Misbah trusted Rahat with just four overs.

With every passing day, an implausible decision is further ruining Pakistan’s chances in the World Cup. Bilawal Bhatti is now heading home after failing to ‘shore up’ the bowling attack. Rahat is heading to Australia with a solitary ODI on his CV. Perhaps the chopping and changing hasn’t ended yet and by the time the tournament comes to an end, Pakistan might not even have Misbah to captain them.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 6^th, 2015.

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