Bari on the backfoot, but survives bouncers
Postings and positions in Pakistan cricket tend to be of very short tenures and there is a culture in our cricket set-up in which changes are more than just a necessity. Former captain Wasim Bari occupies a nadir place in Pakistan cricket, that he has been serving as chief selector since early 1998 with just a short break in 1999. Thus it was not surprising to see him taking on the scribes head-on during the press conference held at the National Stadium on Friday to announce the teams for the tour to South Africa.
Bari was aggressive from the outset having anticipated the questions that were going to come his way. He was adamant when accused of heading a rubber stamp committee with no voice of its own. “This is not a rubber stamp committee. Our decisions are heard and implemented. We might listen to advice and suggestions, but we don’t take dictation from anyone,” he insisted.
He was visibly annoyed when asked if Wasim Akram had been rewarded for skipping the all-important Test series against Australia by being recalled for the Tests in South Africa. “What do you mean by rewarded? It’s a logical decision taken in view of the conditions in South Africa,” he shot back.Bari, flanked by an anxious looking fellow selector Abdul Raquib, also denied that he had given any statement as to who was the better wicketkeeper among Rashid Latif, Kamran Akmal and Moin Khan. "I never gave any interview comparing these three. And I never said that captain Waqar Younis would decide who would go to South Africa. “I only spoke to Geo TV, and didn’t mention anything about the captain. I just said it was a difficult job choosing between the three keepers.”
When asked as to how he or his selectors could compare young Kamran with Rashid and Moin on the evidence of performances in just two Tests and two one-dayers and that too against a second-rate outfit, Bari stuttered for an answer and lost his way as he snapped back by forgetting the name of a reporter and addressing him as ‘Rana Shakoor’ (all-rounder Rana Naved-ul-Hasan apparently playing on his mind) and changed the name of Australian batsman Damien Martyn to Demi Martyn and then Danny Martyn before being corrected. All signs of nervousness. :hehe:
But one message was obvious from Bari’s demeanour whenever he spoke on the issue of the wicketkeepers: that Rashid better performs in the one-dayers in South Africa or the chief selector will not give a second thought to chopping him from the team. :smack: not a new thing either:hehe:
Bari’s frustration and anger on this particular subject was so obvious that he refused to say who was the number one wicketkeeper from among Rashid and Kamran. “What do you mean by number one or two? Why are you insisting on this? It’s up to the tour selection committee whom they play,” he said, ignoring reminders from reporters that when he announced the teams for the tour to Zimbabwe he had named Rashid as number one wicketkeeper and Kamran as his deputy.
On the subject of constantly omitting veteran opener Saeed Anwar, Bari said the left-hander had been given enough chances in three tournaments in Tangier, Nairobi and Colombo and had failed to justify his place. But he got it wrong when he stated that Saeed’s highest score in those events was 41 and someone reminded him it was 51 – a remark ignored by the chief selector.** But Bari did say that Saeed was still in the run for the World Cup and could be brought back if the trial-and-error process to find a reliable opening pair didn’t end successfully with Taufiq Umar and Salim Elahi.**
He was at a loss of words at explaining on what grounds had Salim been picked ahead of other openers and was it fair that he was getting a chance to establish himself against lesser opposition.
The impression one got from the press conference was that Bari is clearly gifted with high survival skills and has learnt that in Pakistan cricket selectors do have to make compromises and then defend them as logically as possible.
