LAHORE: Chairman National selection committee, Inzamam-ul-Haq has called for evolving a policy to give a respectable send-off to star players at the time of their retirement to duly acknowledge their services for the country.
“I urge the Pakistan cricket Board authorities to draft a policy to give the senior and mega players of the team decent send-off when they call it a day and it is the best way to recount their efforts for the cause of cricket,” he was speaking as chief guest at meet the press programmme of Sports Journalists Association of Lahore (SJAL) at the national hockey stadium.
“They are the icons of Pakistan Cricket and those who will be filling the void will definitely take time to duly justify in their position,” he said.
Inzamam particularly pointed out the illustrious services of Misbah for inspiring the team to gain the status of number one team in the test cricket. “Younis is also the back bone of Pakistan cricket and both of them are the top notch of Pakistan cricket and I will personally be talking to them to know their future plans,” he said adding “Worldwide the top stars of cricket take their respective cricket boards into confidence regarding their retirement so that they should be given a decent send-off.”
The chief selector said he is upbeat about the future of Pakistan cricket and the country is rich in cricket talent which needs guidance and grooming.
“We will be short listing the top performers of the Pakistan Super League who will be going to camp training to improve their techniques and further polish their skills so that they could perform to a required level in the domestic and international cricket,” he added.
“When I was the captain I used to select my own playing side and now as the chief selector I give importance to the opinion and choice of the captain and the coach but one thing is very much clear that no player can be selected without my consent and approval,” he asserted.
Inzamam said all the deserving players including Salman Butt and Kamran Akmal will be given due consideration at the time of selection of the team keeping in view their performance as the teams are being selected under merit based formulae.
The former Pakistan captain said Pakistan team was the only team in the sub content which enjoys the good record of victories in its outings abroad.
“In case of team’s failure in a tour abroad the critics come up with the demands for ‘operation in the team’ then change their stance on the plea that there are not talented cricketers who could be given responsibility,” he said.
Answering a question, he dispelled the impression that the domestic cricket is not serving any purpose saying “Babar Azam and Sharjeel Khan are the products of our domestic cricket which strengthen the claim that it is helping the quality cricketers to progress ahead to make their mark at the highest level of the game”.
He said different types of wickets are being prepared in the stadium throughout the country to help the players to adjust with different nature of wickets while playing abroad.