Re: Pakistan Team - developments and news (merged)
I think Bob Woolmer is getting too big for his boots. Everyone knows that he has his favourites in the team. It may not be entirely Akhtar's fault as most of us are so quick to conclude. What if the same thing (Akhtar's spat with Woolmer) happens during the World Cup with Shoaib refusing to play in an important game? I know Akhtar is no angel but the PCB officials need to sit down and discuss this with both Akhtar and Woolmer. No one's larger than the team's cause. That includes not just the players but the team officials (manager and in partcular coach) as well.
And as Imran says sometimes you have to play in important games despite carrying an injury/not being fully fit. Imran himself played the entire 1992 WC with a shoulder injury (he was taking steroid injections), something he would not have done if it had n't mattered that much to him.
Would it not have been worth the gamble to play Akhtar in the third test (and then give him complete rest after that until the WC, he could even be named in the squad and miss the early part of the entire WC because the format of this WC ( with every team playing 5 games at the super six stage) is such that barring a complete mishap, Pakistan should atleast make it to the semis) and bowl him in short spells off a shortened run-up. Afterall we are talking of a test series victory in SA which will be Pakistan's first ever. And let's not forget that a half-fit Akhtar is any day better than the likes of Sami, Nazir and Rana. I know he has a hamstring strain but it's not like he has a bony fracture.