LAHORE – The members of the Pakistan Cricket Board selection committee and other officials have started deliberations on the composition of the team for the upcoming West Indies tour, and the likely chance is that wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal, Younus Khan and Abdul Razzak would not be considered for selection.
The PCB is also considering hiring an English language expert for the team. The officials sat in a closed-door meeting and remained locked in deliberations as to who should be in the team and who should be dropped. Reports coming from the board also suggest that the team had been finalised and board officials were about to announce it in the evening when a phone call made them postpone the announcement to Wednesday (today).
It was not clear as yet who called the PCB officials at the time when the chief selector Mohsin Khan was about the make the announcement in a press conference. An official of the board stated that although the team would be finalised by the selection committee after consultation with the coach and the captain, it would not be made public without the approval of the PCB chairman.
It has been learnt that apart from the senior players, Ahmed Shahzad would also be sidelined. The selection committee also discussed the inclusion of Fawad Alam and Imran Farhat in the team. Meanwhile, it has been learnt that keeper Kamran Akmal would be replaced by either younger bother Adnan or Salman Ahmed. Razzaq will be replaced by Hammad Azam.
Reports also say that PCB is also considering inducting two wicket-keepers in the team. Pacer Aizaz Cheema, Khalid Latif and Khurrum Manzoor are also under discussion for selection. The source said the selectors and management were firm on avoiding too much experimentation in the Test side. Misbah-ul-Haq, despite the criticism he faced for his innings in the World Cup semi-final against India, is in the side, according to a report.
The PCB later said the team would be announced on Wednesday but confirmed that Waqar Younis has been retained as head coach, Aaqib Javed as assistant coach and Intikhab Alam as the manager. In another development, the PCB has planned to hire an English language expert to make the players speak English proficiently. In a statement, the PCB chairman said the players were scared of speaking during the post-match presentations.
“We had numerous incidents when our cricketers were asked to speak and they made mockery of themselves and the whole nation. So we have decided to hire an English language coach for our cricket players.” In 2007, then Pakistan capitan Shoaib Malik asked for forgiveness from the entire Muslim people around the world for not winning the Twenty20 World Cup. He was later reminded that he should have asked forgiveness from Pakistani Muslims only.
Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi has welcomed the move. He said that he has already talked to Stuart Broad for giving him some English lessons. “I am traveling to England in summer and I have already talked to Broad to coach me in the English language.”
