Guest Post by Syed Ahsan Ali
T20 version of the game changed that certainty of few months back into the biggest dilemma for selectors regarding mid-August announcement of final squad for the inaugural T20 World Cup in South Africa. Arguments of poor fielding agility across the park, against these two cornerstones of Pakistan’s 50 over cricket, are put forward by several veteran cricketers and think tanks in Pakistan cricket board.
Another opinion that is becoming quite strong in opposition to this anticipated omissions of these explosive cricketers from the list of 15 that Yousuf, and Razzaq can add a lot to this rapid-paced cricket for Pakistan through plethora of experience and temperament at their disposal which they have shown over the span of years. Shortest version of the game definitely demands few sprints and dives to save some very precious runs, but making few quick runs with bellicosity under pressure-cooker situations can only be achieved when you have players of Yousuf, and Razzaq’s caliber who have years of daylights on their backs to bolster Pakistan to finishing line. Look at their careers can help in solving this riddle.
Experience of 231 matches.
4465 runs with the strike rate of 79.96 and an average of 29.96 with an added value of 103 sixes.
246 Wickets with an economy rate of 4.69.
Experience of 242 matches.
8081 runs with the strike rate of 74.41 and an average of 41.02 (best average in current Pakistani set of available players even better than great Inzamam-ul-Haq) with 12 hundreds and 54 fifties.
About the Author: Syed Ahsan Ali holds a masters degree in Economics and is a writer by profession. He occasionally writes for the daily News and the daily Dawn also
All players have their ups and downs, including yousuf and Razaq. But leaving out a player like yusuf will be like leaving out a genius batsman like saeed anwar whose (along with many other players) career got finished way too early due to usual politics. Yusuf is simply too talented.
As far as Salu is concerned, he is there because he knows one thing saying NO to nothing and to nobody. We need such meek, timorous characters in power game to strengthen our strongholds in matters of importance. I think, it needs another post to discuss such ridiculous selection committee.
Who were the two main competitions to Shoaib Malik’s place in the team? First was Yousuf, since he has publicly shown interest to captain the team. The other has always been Razzak. He is the only other “ordinary” no good at any thing all rounder – or rather has become one similar to what Malik has always been. Not a specialist at either batting or bowling and just surviving in the team because some one liked him. At least Razzak is known to have won us many matches in the past with his brutal hitting or once in a while good bowling. Malik, though as ordinary as Razzak, has won very few games from his batting and none with his bowling. To be honest, Younis Khan can bowl as well as Malik.
So what I am saying here is that the only person to exclusively benefit from this exclusion of two match winners from Pakistan is Malik, the new captain of Pakistan.
Unfortunately, he is the weakest player to have ever become captain of the Pakistan team and will have to play the most politics to keep his position.
Lucky for him that he has such a lame selection committee behind him. I have followed cricket for the past 25 years and Salahuddin has always been a mystery to me. Still can
I don’t understand how anyone can argue for the inclusion of Razzaq. the guy isn’t interested in playing any more. he hasn’t been for the last 2-3 years. he jogs in lazily like he’s playing a tapeball match in his mohallah. heck people in mohallah matches probably show more fire and intensity when bowling. his batting as explosive as it is is unreliable. he has played hundreds of matches and instead of improving his game, first it went into a coma and is now practically receding. at this rate, he will forget how to even hold a bat.
people like Razzaq – who don’t have any pride and don’t know what an honour it is to wear the green – have no business playing in the Pak team. he should be dropped from all forms of cricket including one-day and test until he figures out whether he wants to play and if he wants to work hard to make that possible.
chugging along in cruise control is not acceptable. it is time to introduce hungrier players like Yasir Arafat who actually make an effort.
I agree with Affan. We should have couple of expereinced players who can make a difference when eveybody will be losing his wicket in Afridi style
Both Razzaq and Yousaf are physically not fit,Razzaq is an excellent hitter of a cricket ball but due to minor knee injury i am sorry to say he wont make his place in 20/20 world cup.Yousaf is best for 50 overs and test he is a technically sound player 20/20 does’nt suit him.
Even in a 20 over match an imminent collapse is still on the books especially for a unpredictable team like Pakistan. We need Mohammad Yousuf for such rainy days and lets not forget he can do some serious hitting as well! :)
The new ICL is something not sanctioned by the ICC, and PCB has said it all along that whoever signs a contract with ICL would seriously jeopardize their Test and ODI playing careers with the National Team. I would imagine the cricketers who sign up for ICL are local (Indian) youngsters and among international stars, someone who is way past his prime (35+)and is looking to secure their future with a lucrative contract. Yousuf and Razzaq still have a lot of cricket left in them. Razzaq’s ommision is a big surprise to me at least, I thought he is ideal for 20/20.