Notable absentees ensure Pakistan World Cup squad divides opinion

Hassan Cheema 23:42 10/01/2015
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  • Given the go ahead: Younis Khan has made the Pakistan squad.

    After months of lobbying, lying and the occasional performance on the field, Pakistan’s squad for the World Cup was announced on Wednesday. In the end there was less head scratching and questioning than expected.

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    The indications and rumours in the previous few days meant that when the final squad was announced it was welcomed with a sigh of relief as much as anything else.

    Pakistan will go to Australia with probably the best squad they could have hoped for; sure, it might not be the best squad they could have put together, fans can be pleased with the squad heading to Australia and New Zealand.

    Reports returns for Kamran Akmal and Shoaib Malik, in particular, had been the cause of much consternation. 

    For their army of fans, they were seen as experienced players (both of whom average less than 23 since the turn of the decade),who had a proven World Cup Record (both average under 27 in ICC tournaments) and were experienced in Australian conditions (both average under 25 in ODI cricket down under).

    The fact that they could not find a place in the squad ahead of younger players who have performed better in recent times was logical, but it wasn’t a given considering Pakistan’s record with such selections over the past few years.

    The most obvious example of the Pakistani selectors’ aversion to the logical was shown in the selection of one Karachiite nurdler, and the lack of another.

    Over the last six years Younis Khan has played over 80 ODIs, scored a single century and finished with a calendar year average of under 30 in five of those six years.

    Almost fifteen years since his debut, Younis is once again being backed by Pakistan’s management.

    Meanwhile, in the other corner stands Fawad Alam. The man who averaged nearly 70 with the bat last year and has a career strike rate better than 3 of the 7 batsmen selected for the World Cup.

    At this point it seems redundant to talk about his stats (best First Class average in Pakistani history, best average in ODIs for Pakistan since Zaheer Abbas, the highest scorer in the major List A competition last year, etc.).

    Pakistanis, both fans and the decision makers, believe that cricket is like ballet where you are judged on your style and not a sport where you win and lose based on what’s on the scoreboard. To talk of injustice for the little man is pretty superfluous now.

    The bowling, on paper, seems even more suspect.

    Three of the six specialist bowlers have played fewer than six ODIs; two of the other three are the erratic Wahab Riaz and Junaid Khan returning from injury.

    And yet, Pakistan being Pakistan it’s not the bowling that worries the fanbase. Irfan and Junaid have shown enough in their brief careers to be considered true successors to the legacy of Pakistani fast bowling.

    The selection of Yasir Shah over the plethora of left arm spinners seems the sort of gung ho selection. Fans calling for aggression cannot complain about a lack of ambition.

    Yasir Shah.

    Few things better encapsulate Pakistan’s lack of learning from their lessons quite like their last tour to Australia in 2009/10: in four of the five ODIs then the team batting first posted a score in excess of 260 (as was also the case on their last tour of New Zealand in 2010/11), and Fawad Alam and Umar Akmal were the only Pakistani batsmen to perform competently.

    And yet half a decade later many of those same players will return to those grounds having forgotten the trend from then.

    Still, Pakistanis retain hope.

    In 1992 they went with a squad which included several players who’d played fewer than 20 ODIs, and won the darned thing. In 2003 and 2007 they went with far more experienced and complete squads and came back empty handed.

    Pessimism may be the order of the day, but in Pakistan even that comes with the hope – that the tiger is most dangerous when cornered.

    Now the question is, are the fifteen on the plane worthy of being called tigers? We will have to wait and see if that is the case or whether they play like mere house cats.

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