Pakistan team was unable to complete what could have been an easy victory over the Kiwis in the first test of the series. After getting the Kiwis out cheaply in the 2nd innings and reducing the target to 250, their fans were expecting an easy victory for their team. However, Pakistan has done this in at least 4 recent Test Matches. It’s almost a custom now with this Pakistan side. Their bowlers bring the match back in the second innings bowling the other team out and keeping the target in chase able proportions and the batsmen just don’t seem capable enough to chase the target in the 4^th innings.

Some of the dismissals of some of the batsmen raised questions why they were picked in the first place for national duty. This tempted me to have a look at their current form in the domestic circuit. The most recent tournament played was Quaid – e – Azam Trophy 2009/10. The top performers in this tournament (playing 4 or more matches) are as under:

There are some familiar names here. The first one that strikes the chord is Misbah-ul-Haq. Apparently when Younis quit and Yousuf was made captain, he asked of the selectors to bring in the senior batsman but the selectors had some issues with it. I fail to understand what these issues were since he is topping the list and scored a double century (284) for his domestic side. Although they have sent him after the loss in the first test but one wonders why they had to wait as it clearly is a selection blunder that he is not part of this line up.

Then as we go down the table we see Fawad Alam and since the guy is compiling loads of runs in domestic, therefore, it’s fair enough he’s given a chance in the national team. Another familiar name is Khalid Latif, who was also part of the team for the ODIs against New Zealand. Khurram Manzoor was considered for the Tests before him because the selectors feel Khalid’s style of cricket suits ODIs more than Tests. Some would take this as an argument and some would say that if such was the case why India plays Sehwag in their test line up. However we can give the Pakistan selectors the benefit of the doubt here.

It’s important though, to look at the guys who were actually picked for the opening slot. Imran Farhat played 5 innings and scored at an average of 35.80 and Salman had the same number of innings and scored at an average of 52.25. Interestingly, Farhat was picked ahead of Salman for the first Test Match. Taufiq Umar, a fellow left handed opener, was not picked in the squad despite two centuries and an average of 51.66. Another person who was picked ahead of others in the list is Faisal Iqbal. Although he hasn’t played as yet, but his recent form in the Quaid-e-Azam trophy was poor managing to score just one fifty in 6 innings with an average of 28.8 runs. Shoaib Malik only played 2 tests and could manage an average of 22 which by the way is equal to the average Muhammad Aamer managed in the similar number of games.

I do understand selectors have their reasons for picking or not picking guys e.g. some of the guys who have 4 and 3 centuries to their names are either too inexperienced (Naved Yasin) or maybe their current form doesn’t prevail throughout their careers (Muhammad Ayub). Also if we simply pick players on averages then even Umar Akmal had an average of 32 and there are loads of batsmen with higher averages in this table. But at the same time if someone is picked there must be some logic behind the decision. Misbah not being picked is certainly a blunder. Trying Imran Farhat ahead of Khalid Latif, Salman Butt and Taufiq Umar is also something I can’t understand. Faisal Iqbal picked ahead of Hasan Raza and Misbah ul Haq in the middle order doesn’t make a lot of sense either.

The Pakistan team is going down and down in the Test Rankings. Although they may still be a brutal force in T20s and ODIs, the time has come that they seriously need to sit down and revive their Test cricket. Selection is an important part of this revival and the selectors have to do their job to the best of their potential and also by analyzing the current form data. It seems the current selection is merely a compilation of personal choices rather than a calculated effort to put up a good team.

Tags: pakistan cricket board, pakistan selection, pakistan team

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