Iqbal Qasim, the chief selector of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), has expressed that he would not take too many risks in selecting the team for the upcoming tour of India and hinted at relying on the senior players to perform well.
Pakistan recalled a number of seasoned players for the T20 series against Australia earlier this year and the ICC World T20 2012. However, the likes of Abdul Razzaq, Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Malik and Imran Nazir failed to make a big impression on the tournament. Some of the former cricketers criticised the selection committee for ignoring the young talent and called for the omission of the senior players. The former left-arm spinner expressed that the selection committee cannot afford to take chances with new players in India because of the hype and pressure involved in the Indo-Pak encounters.
“I would prefer to play it safe in terms of selection. I don’t think it would be wise to experiment too much with our selection for the tour of India,” said the chief selector.
The team for the tour of India will be announced at the end of the on-going Faysal Bank T20 Tournament 2012-13 in Lahore. There are many young players coming through the ranks of domestic sport in the country, with Umar Amin and Haris Sohail consistently doing well at the first-class level. The senior players will have to deliver the goods in India; otherwise, there would be a huge question-mark over their places in the squad. “It’s difficult to say whether it’s the last chance for some of our squad. It all depends on how they perform. Fans and media will want the Pakistani team to perform well particularly the senior players,” the former cricketer added. “We will be banking on our senior players to deliver and perform and if they don’t in India, then naturally the media and fans start speculating about the futures of those senior players.
