One step forward, one back: Ajmal returns but Shehzad excluded

Pakistan’s best batsman of last year dropped from Test, ODI squads for Bangladesh on head coach’s request.

KARACHI:

The Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) newly-formed selection committee has dropped Ahmed Shehzad from the ODI and Test squads for the tour of Bangladesh on head coach Waqar Younis’ request, while Saeed Ajmal was included in all three formats after his action was cleared by the International Cricket Council.

The selectors also dropped Younus Khan from the ODI side, though they claimed he is being rested, while Nasir Jamshed and Umar Akmal were axed entirely.

Fawad Alam, Asad Shafiq, Muhammad Rizwan, Ajmal, Hafeez and Sami Aslam have been recalled.

Changes in the Test side

The pace trio of Imran Khan, Muhammad Talha and Ehsan Adil lost their place, so did openers Shaan Masood and Taufeeq Umar.

Rookies Babar Azam and Sami Aslam have been included as openers while Ajmal, Wahab Riaz, Junaid Khan and Sohail Khan also make the cut.

The T20 side

The T20 side sees an inevitable axe on Raza Hasan after a dope test carried out during the Pentangular Cup came out positive. Mukhtar Ahmed, another rookie all-rounder, has been brought in with Sohaib Maqsood, Rizwan, Sohail Khan and Junaid.

Selectors want team effort

“The players will have to contribute for Pakistan and will have to put aside their individual goals,” chief selector Haroon Rasheed told reporters in Lahore. “We’ve dropped players looking at their performances at the World Cup and tour reports from the event. It’s a message to those cricketers who have been dropped that those who are willing to work according to the thinking of the team will be preferred.”

However, Rasheed was quick to add that the players excluded have not been done so on a permanent basis. “The doors have not been closed on anyone,” he said. “We are still open to the omitted players making a return.”

The Shehzad conundrum

Head coach Waqar was against the inclusion of Shehzad and mentioned in his report that the player had attitude problems and should be removed.

However, Ahmed has been one of Pakistan’s best batsmen in 2014. The young opener made 227 runs at the World Cup at an average of 32.42 and was Pakistan’s highest run-scorer in ODIs in 2014, with 629 runs from 16 matches, as well as T20Is, scoring 181 from six outings. Shehzad also scored 693 runs in Tests.

Shehzad exclusion a ‘farce’

Former captain Rashid Latif has slammed the decision to drop Shehzad from the ODI and Test squads. “There isn’t any justification to drop Shehzad even on disciplinary grounds because he had been Pakistan’s best performer in 2014,” said Latif, while talking to The Express Tribune. “Pakistan wasted a top opener in Yasir Hameed and I would urge the authorities not to do the same with Shehzad.”

However, the ex-wicketkeeper saw positives in the squad too. “It’s good to see Ajmal back and that will be a big boost. The selectors should have given an opportunity to Naeemuddin in the Tests as he has scored prolifically in first-class cricket in the last two years.”

Rashid lauded the decision to retain Maqsood in the side as he believes that the middle-order batsman puts the team above himself.

Meanwhile, former player and coach Mohsin Khan was even more critical of the decision to drop Shehzad and labelled it a ‘farce’.

“The selectors claim that Shehzad is being dropped on disciplinary grounds; if so then why is he in the T20 squad? It is a total farce to drop him from the ODIs and Tests on grounds of poor discipline and then include him in T20Is.”

Mohsin believed there should also have been action against Waqar for his role in Pakistan failing to set the World Cup alight. “There is action against the players but why not any action against Waqar?” asked the 60-year-old.

The squads

Tests

Misbahul Haq (c), Babar Azam, Muhammad Hafeez, Sami Aslam, Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali, Younus Khan, Haris Sohail, Saeed Ajmal, Yasir Shah, Zulfikar Babar, Sarfraz Ahmed, Wahab Riaz, Junaid Khan, Sohail Khan, Rahat Ali

ODIs

Azhar (c), Aslam, Sarfraz, Hafeez, Shafiq, Fawad Alam, Muhammad Rizwan, Haris Sohail, Sohaib Maqsood, Ajmal, Yasir, Wahab, Rahat, Ehsan Adil, Sohail Khan

T20Is

Shahid Afridi (c), Ahmed Shehzad, Sarfraz, Hafeez, Mukhtar Ahmed, Maqsood, Haris, Rizwan, Ajmal, , Sohail Tanvir, Saad Nasim, Wahab, Sohail Khan, Gul, Junaid

Published in The Express Tribune, April 4^th, 2015.

Like Sports on Facebook, follow @ETribuneSports on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.