**Asim was a wanted man! **
Monday, November 26, 2007
From our correspondent
DELHI: Pakistan team management had requested for the inclusion of discarded middle-order batsman Asim Kamal in the Test squad after losing the one-day series against India in a bid to provide more stability to the touring team’s batting line.
But the national selectors didn’t find the talented batter from Karachi good enough for a Test recall. According to sources in the Pakistan team, the left-handed Asim was in the list of players which the team management had asked for induction in the squad for the three-match Test series.
Shoaib Malik, the Pakistan captain, had stressed that he would like a left-handed option for the middle-order which is filled by right-handers. The team management had also asked for Danish Kaneria, Faisal Iqbal and Mohammad Sami after releasing all-rounder Shahid Afridi, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Fawad Alam and Imran Nazir following the one-day series.
However, the national selection committee didn’t believe that the 31-year-old Asim was ready to return to the Test squad. Sources said that the selectors were not very impressed with Asim’s fitness and opted to ignore the team management’s request.
The new set of selectors have been ignoring Asim since taking over the responsibility of picking the national team following the World Cup debacle in the Caribbean this March. They did pick him for a special conditioning camp but were not impressed by the player’s fitness and the ‘lack of commitment shown’ by him in the training camp.
Later, Asim was not considered for selection in the Test squad for the home series against South Africa which Pakistan lost 0-1 mainly due to a series of batting collapses.Asim made an impressive Test debut in the fall of 2003 when he scored 99 in Pakistan’s eight-wicket triumph over India in Lahore. He remained in and out of the Test squad but did make his presence felt on most occasions.
He is one of the few Pakistani batsmen who didn’t feel uneasy even while playing Australia in Australia and struck a handsome 87 in the Sydney Test when Pakistan last toured Down Under.
Most of his eight Test fifties have come against top sides like Australia, South Africa and India and Asim’s career average of 37.73 (717 runs from 12 Tests) is also impressive by Pakistani standards.
