From Dean at Cricket Betting Blog.http://www.cricketbettingblog.com/ : I would be interested to hear from Pakistan fans who know more than me about why a lot of that Sydney team (apart from the obvious ones) aren't currently playing.
Dean,
Out of the players that played at the SCG debacle in January 2010:
Mohammad Yousuf has been discarded. He was banned indefinitely after the tour of Australia, but returned to the side mid way through the 2010 England tour for the final two test matches and one day series which followed. He was then injured for the series against South Africa in the UAE and as Misbah, Younis were performing so well along with youngsters like Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq he was not selected for the tour of New Zealand where all these batsmen continued their splendid form with the bat to give us our first test series win outside sub continental territory in over 7 years. It’s just a case that the team has been performing admirably since he has been sidelined and they want to have a balance of experience and youth in the side with Younis and Misbah already there as the seniors. Yousuf is not even a centrally contracted player anymore and is not playing first class cricket nowadays either. Plus, he’s a poor fielder and age is catching up whereas YK and Misbah are both outstanding in this department by Pakistani standards.
Kaneria: Poor performance and has his problems with getting clearance from the integrity committee after the spot fixing fiasco with Essex.
Butt, Asif, Amir = obvious reasons. (Amir did not play at the SCG due to injury)
Farhat=Poor form.In the test squad. Is in and out of the ODI starting line up.
Faisal Iqbal=Poor form.
Kamran Akmal=Initially he was excluded because he didn’t have clearance from the PCB integrity committee, but he was cleared in time for the WC, but after a disappointing run with gloves and bat he was dropped soon after. His brother has been the replacement in tests after Zulqarnain fled away and done an impressive job.
Mohammad Sami: Just was too wayward and inconsistent with his line and length. His performances have been poor after repeated recalls into the side, especially for a bowler of his talent. Purely he has been excluded on merit. He last played against South Africa last November and struggled for control and rhythm. He hasn’t been since in the international camp since with other pacers competing for a spot.
Umar Akmal= Form. 2 50s in his last 22 test innings. He doesn’t get preference at number 6 ahead of Shafiq, well for this series he hasn’t, but in the past he has. It’s a bit like the Bopara/Morgan debate here. Nonetheless very much part of LOI first choice line up.
Basically after losing a test series against Sri Lanka 2-0, being whitewashed down under 3-0 and losing to England 3-1 in 2009-10, we needed drastic changes in our team. Plus the disciplinary issues for some meant we were forced too.
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Thanks Maaz, great piece. Do you not think any of those players might have been kicked into touch for reasons of suspicion at all then? And form etc, was just an excuse for not picking them?
ReplyDeleteAlso, if you could help with another one, what was that list of players that Mushtaq Ahmed's name appeared on a while back?
I think it was some enquiry in Pakistan that named a few former players who were under suspicion for activities, but couldn't be proved.
Was it a serious accusation, or was it someone just trying to make a name for himself by naming random big names?
I heard something about it a week or two back, but it was a bit vague. It just struck me that some people in England get a bit high and almighty on these issues, yet they employ Mushy. So was wondering how serious the accusations are?
Pakistan cricket team has finally shown its strength by convincingly winning the match. Online cricket betting industry is taking advantage of the game due to its popularity.
ReplyDeleteDean, it’s not an excuse. I think it’s a genuine reason for the exclusion of those individuals. In regards to Mushy, he has a bit of a history as a rebel in his younger days, but nowadays is a totally reformed and changed character. He was mentioned in the Qayyum report which can be read on the internet as far as I know where a lot of revelations were made.
ReplyDelete