Cricket – Pakistan’s Selection Inconsistency

Sohail Tanveer - Unlucky to miss out against Sri Lanka

Pakistan selection policy during the current Cricket Test series against Sri Lanka still suffers from the long irking inconsistency. The selectors led by Abdul Qadir seem to be still unable to select the best talent available to represent Pakistan at the highest level. In the current series, players of the calibre of Sohail Tanveer and Rao Iftikhar have been left out of the 15 players selected for the series. Rather untested and inexperienced talent of Sohail Khan and Mohammad Talha have been drafted into the 15 men chosen for the current series.

The “official” reason for dropping Sohail Tanveer and others was that they are not yet ready for Test cricket. Which is strange as both the players have performed well above everyones expectations for the past one year not to get a nod for Test cricket.

Rao Iftikhar played a vital role in the recently concluded one-day series against Sri Lanka including winning them one of the matches with some accurate bowling. Sohail Tanveer was last year declared the best bowler during the IPL (Indian Premier League) series and has been performing exceptionally well in the current domestic season in Pakistan.

Sohail Khan made his Test debut in Karachi during the first Test against Sri Lanka last week. But his performance was well below par as he never took a wicket in the two innings he bowled during the match. He also gave away a lot of runs. That was not his fault, as he is just too young and inexperienced to make an impact on the placid Karachi track. The unimpressive performance by him led to his being dropped for the next Test in Lahore where Talha has been given the Test cap.

Had Sohail Tanveer or Rao Iftikhar played the first Test in Karachi, the results could have been different. A few vital wickets of the opposition could have been snatched by them thus not letting them score a record 4th wicket partnership against Pakistan and mamoth score of almost 700 in the first innings.

In the current Test (in Lahore), Mohammad Talha has so far shown that his inexperience at bowling to quality batsmen like Sangakara and Jayawardene will not help Pakistan’s cause. If Pakistan really wants to win some Test matches, they need to field their best players. Sohail Tanveer and Rao Iftikhar not only have the experience but have also produced match winning performances on numerous occasions for Pakistan. Selecting match winners like them will only help Pakistan’s cause in winning some vital matches.