Analysis: The search for the right balance

Imran Khan Junior an inspired selection; Hafeez not so in the T20 format

The National T20 Cup in Rawalpindi was one of the most closely-fought tournaments of the instant format in domestic history, with youth and veterans both churning out some eye-catching performances.

Keeping up with the tradition of ‘rewarding’ the top performers in the regional T20 tournaments with international exposure, the Haroon Rasheed-led selection committee has picked Imran Khan Jr and Amir Yamin for the short tour to Zimbabwe.

Peshawar’s Imran Khan Jr’s ascent to the top is a story that is set to warm the hearts of all. Living a life of obscurity in Swat, the left-armer was spotted playing tape ball cricket by local officials last year.

Thrown in at the deep end during the 2014 National T20 in Karachi, the canny trundler bemused batters of the highest pedigree with his assortment of slower deliveries that were almost impossible to line-up.

Last year, the Moin Khan-led selection committee resisted the temptation of immediately handing Imran the Pakistan cap.

Imran didn’t lose faith and a year later emerged as an even tougher threat to negotiate for batsmen swinging from their hips at the backend of the innings.

Tournament figures of 16 wickets in seven games at an average of 12.12 and economy rate of 7.18 was enough to land him a second successive best bowler award in the elongated version of the national event.

His call-up is richly deserved. With his bag of tricks, Imran can throttle batting line-ups. The World Twenty20 in India next March can catapult his status beyond his dreams and one hopes that under Shahid Afridi, he learns the trait of staying unfazed and zoning in on the task in the glare of the world stage.

Imran can be one of those ‘mystery’ bowlers that befuddles, before analysts attempt to dissect each and every trick of their trade.

Lasith Malinga, Sohail Tanvir, Ajantha Mendis, Sunil Narine and recently Mustafizur Rehman have fooled the best with their trickery and deceptive bowling actions. Likewise, one feels Imran can be a source of real grief for the flailing bats of big-hitters in the world game.

The selectors, meanwhile, have added more striking power to the T20 squad by drafting in the fit-again Sohaib Maqsood.

The Multan batsman looked in decent touch in Rawalpindi, and the Zimbabwean tour is now a golden opportunity for him to re-establish his credentials in both limited over squads.

Interestingly, Mohammad Hafeez, with a 77 run-return in his last six T20Is (since relinquishing the captaincy after the disastrous exit in last year’s World T20), has occupied a spot in the squad.

After the ban on his bowling, the Sargodha-born’s prospects in the crash, bang and wallop format have diminished considerably, but according to the grapevine, the selectors have been asked to carry the Professor in both squads due to ‘travel and lodging cost constraints’ for the low-profile tour.

The austerity drive has cost Nauman Anwar his spot in the squad. The Sialkot opener, who impressed in his one-off T20 against Zimbabwe at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium earlier in the year will cool his heels in Pakistan when the action would unfold at the Harare Sports Club.

Deserved Test return for Fawad Alam

At long last, the national selectors have rewarded left-hander Fawad Alam for his phenomenal success in first-class cricket for the last many seasons.

His current average of 56.76 spread over 117 long format games makes him Pakistan’s best back up prospect in the middle-order packed with experience and class in the shape of Younus Khan, Misbahul Haq, Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq.

The southpaw has already been injudiciously robbed of a sustained run in Test cricket despite a back-against-the-wall debut century against Sri Lanka six years ago. Alam only played a couple of more Tests before being confined to the bin.

Last year, he had another prosperous season for the National Bank in the Quaid-e-Azam Gold League, and bigger things beckon him in the Test format once Misbah quits.

The Test squad looks in good shape with Alam in the 15. The bowling attack including Wahab Riaz, Junaid Khan, Rahat Ali, Imran Khan Senior and spin twins Yasir Shah and Zulfiqar Babar can give the largely inexperienced English team (especially in Asian conditions) a real run for their money.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 18^th,  2015.

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