Doors of one-day cricket open for Younus Khan: Haroon Rasheed

Chief Selector Haroon Rasheed said on Thursday that doors of one-day cricket were open for stalwarts like Younus Khan and Saeed Ajmal if they secured a place in the final XI.

“Younus and Ajmal are players of high calibre and their inclusion among 15 is not justified,” Haroon Rasheed said at a news conference at Karachi Press Club (KPC).

Former Pakistan chief selector Iqbal Qasim and former Pakistan team manager Abdul Raqeeb, Chairman KPC Sports Committee Atiq-ur-Rehman and member Shoaib Jutt were present on the occasion.

He said he had a great respect for players like Younus and Saeed for their grand contribution and they would be selected once they were needed by the team.

He said Younus Khan was an integral part of the Pakistan Test side and if he were fitted in the final eleven for one-day, he could be considered for selection.

Former captain and ace batsman Younus was not considered for the one-day team after the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand earlier this year.

Haroon Rasheed said Saeed Ajmal without any doubt was Pakistan’s bowling great. But he was unable to deliver after remodelling his action after reported for suspect action during the Sri Lanka series last year.

”We are closely monitoring Saeed Ajmal for his performances and he has yet to show his class after remodelling his action,” he said.

He, however, admitted that due to action problems and reporting of several bowlers for suspect action, Pakistan did not have a quality off-spinner in the domestic circuit.

Commenting on the selection plan for Muhammad Amir, Muhammad Asif and Salman Butt, he said Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had chalked out an extensive rehabilitation programme for the trio. They would have to follow the PCB road-map for their comeback on the domestic circuit.

“Since Asif and Butt have not played any brand of cricket for the last five years, they must first follow the PCB procedures before have any chance of a comeback,” he said.

“Once they proved themselves and performed at the domestic circuit they may come in reckoning for selection in Pakistan team.”

However, the former Test batsman was of the view that there was a long way to go for the duo to get selection in the national team.

He said forthcoming series against England in the United Arab Emirates would be an important series.

But his and his co-selectors main focus was to prepare a good pool of players for next year’s ICC World Twenty20 being in India in March/April, he added.

He said they had prepared different pools of players for different brands like Test, ODI and T20 Internationals.

Haroon said Pakistan got good combination in Test with pool of 24 players and they got 26 players in ODIs and around 30 in T20.

“Only a few can be picked in all brands. But we got players for both T20 and ODIs,” he commented.

QASIM READY TO SERVE PAKISTAN:

Meanwhile, former chief selector and member Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) governing board Iqbal Qasim is ready to serve national cricket if any offer comes from the board.

“It is always an honor to serve Pakistan cricket and it is always his wish to return something to Pakistan cricket,” he said.

Left arm spinner Iqbal Qasim, who with fellow off-spinner Tauseef Ahmed bowled Pakistan to historic series win over arch-rival India in Bangalore in 1987 said he had always served Pakistan cricket selflessly. He said Pakistan cricket was at the right track at the moment and successful staging of Pakistan Super League (PSL) in Qatar February next year will be another milestone for PCB.

Commenting on the issue related to Karachi City Cricket Association (KCCA) affairs and resignation of Prof. Ejaz Faruqi, he said once the new domestic format was signed, you cannot back out. He said Karachi got enough firepower and their second team is capable of qualifying for the final rounds of National T20 Cup and Quaid-e-Azam Cricket. He expressed the hope that issue would be amicably settled and Karachi players will have enough opportunities to prove their class.