Confused selectors say Saeed may replace injured Shoaib](http://www.jang-group.com/thenews/dec2002-daily/19-12-2002/sports/s1.htm)
“Cricket confusion” remains the order of the day as far as the Pakistan team and the Board is concerned.
On Wednesday the Board said that the touring management had asked for Saeed Anwar to be sent as a replacement for the two Tests in South Africa in place of the injured fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar!
Where else but in Pakistan cricket would one hear of such a ridiculous thing that a specialist opener should be asked as a replacement for a fast bowler.
And not for the first time in recent months we have a situation where Shoaib has pulled out of a match (s) because of some injury problem.
He will now be flying back home before the tests after the PCB confirmed he had a sore knee problem which needed to be taken care off.
Thankfully, the chief selector Wasim Bari said that a final decision on sending Saeed would be taken on Thursday after taking into consideration several factors.
"We don’t want to take a decision in haste. I am in contact with my fellow selectors but the final decision will be taken on Thursday,’ Bari said.
According to him the team management had said they were self sufficient in the fast bowling department even without Wasim Akram and Shoaib Akhtar, but they need an experienced hand at top of the order.
But if this is the case the question is why has it taken the team management or even the selectors so long to realize that there is still no suitable replacement opener in sight for Saeed and he needed to be persisted with atleast till the World Cup. Bari has said time and again that Saeed was given several chances in three One-day tournaments after his comeback in June but could not make an impression that is why they have tried out several opening combinations.
Even if one accepts this argument still one would think that the 35 One-day Internationals that Pakistan has played this year would be enough for everyone to either settle upon a new opening pair or accept that there is still no better opener in the country then the stylish Saeed Anwar.
But then majority of the players don’t appear to be sure of their batting positions in the team with snakes and ladders being played with the batting order in every second match which is only adding to the uncertainity and has spoiled preparations for the World Cup.
And as far the enigmatic Shoaib Akhtar is concerned, it is time the Pakistan Board Chairman, his advisors particularly Dr Tauseef Razak and the selectors, to realize that the time has come to put to an end the ‘primadonna antics’ of the world’s fastest bowler.
Not for the first time are we hearing and reading about Shoaib pulling out of a test series or One-day match because of some injury or niggling problem or because he needs to be properly taken care off.
Shoaib is not a child, he is a professional cricketer and that too a very well paid one. Perhaps, the Pakistan team has suffered more on count of his antics than gained from the good performances he has put in this year.
The Chairman’s belief that he is Pakistan’s only match-winner appears misplaced because when a player becomes too big for his boots he ceases to be an asset to the team.
The reports about Shoaib’s personal behaviour in Zimbabwe and South Africa are also not very positive and need not be discussed here but if the Board is going to treat him like the “Kohinoor diamond” then it would be better if the PCB kept him in cold storage and only released him on the day of the start of the World Cup.