KARACHI: Just days after Shoaib Akhtar flopped miserably in the one-day series against Sri Lanka at home earlier this year, a senior team official rejected the controversial pacer as spent force and stressed that Pakistan will be “complete fools” if they took him to England for this June’s Twenty20 World Championships.
On Monday, the 33-year-old Shoaib was named by national selectors in a 15-man squad for the biennial spectacle in spite of the fact that the bowler failed to impress much in his team’s recently-concluded one-day series against Australia in the United Arab Emirates.
The injury-prone Shoaib played in four of the five games in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, bowled a total of 27 overs and took a combined haul of 3-152 at 50.66. In what was quite a low-scoring series, Shoaib had an expensive economy rate of 5.62.
That’s not all. He has been quite rusty and lethargic on the field and by selecting him, Pakistan have failed to fulfill their promise of keeping “fitness above everything else”. Shoaib spearheads a five-man pace attack that includes Umar Gul, Sohail Tanvir, Yasir Arafat and uncapped youngster Mohammad Aamer.
Aamer, a tall left-armer, is one of the two rookies included in the England-bound squad. The selectors have sprung a major surprise by including Shahzaib Hasan, a 19-year-old Karachi opener in the touring party.
A hard-hitting batter, Shahzaib had an impressive domestic season, scoring 607 runs in ten matches for Karachi Blues in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. In one-dayers, he has scored 250 runs in seven games at a strike rate of 96.11.
Aamer replaces the more experienced Rao Iftikhar Anjum, who was snubbed after failing to take a single wicket in the two matches he played against Australia in UAE recently. Rao’s omission is surprising considering the fact that he has returned impressive ODI figures in the last 12 months, taking 21 wickets in 14 games.
Aamer was rewarded for his outstanding showing at the first-class level as he collected 56 wickets in ten games for Rawalpindi. He also took 25 wickets in 15 one-dayers and was included in the squad for last month’s tour of Bangladesh which was postponed because of security issues.
Lahore youngster Ahmed Shahzad is also in after a string of useful contributions in the series against Australia that Pakistan lost 2-3. The selectors ignored a trio of ICL rebels after initially including them as reserves in the preliminary squad for the June 5-21 World Twenty20 Championships.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had picked the previously banned trio of Abdul Razzaq, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and Imran Nazir as reserves in its preliminary squad for the biennial spectacle but opted against selecting them in the final squad.
Razzaq, Rana and Imran — three of the Pakistani cricketers who defected to the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) — were hoping to earn a comeback to the Pakistan team. Meanwhile, Saeed Ajmal is the only specialist spinner in the squad that includes several all-rounders including former captain Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi and youngster Fawad Alam.
Ajmal, a talented off-spinner, finds a place in the squad in spite of being reported for a suspect action during the one-day series against Australia. He has to undergo an examination of his bowling action later this month and can only play if the ICC bowling action review committee clears his action.
Pakistan are eyeing the World Twenty20 title after finishing as runners-up in the inaugural edition of the tournament in South Africa in 2007 when they lost in a thrilling final against India. Pakistan will leave for England later this month and will warm up for the Twenty20 assignment by playing a couple of practice games in Nottingham and London.
On June 1, Pakistan will meet South Africa in a practice game in Nottingham followed by a mouthwatering clash against India at The Oval on June 3. Pakistan will begin their title campaign with a tough game against top Pool B rivals England on June 7 at The Oval followed by their last group game against minnows Netherlands on June 9 at Lord’s.
Pakistan squad: Younis Khan (captain), Misbah-ul-Haq, Salman Butt, Ahmed Shahzad, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, Fawad Alam, Kamran Akmal, Yasir Arafat, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Sohail Tanvir, Mohammad Aamer, Saeed Ajmal and Shahzaib Hasan.
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