Yasir could face disciplinary action
- By our correspondent*
** KARACHI:** Pakistan’s discarded batsman Yasir Hameed could face disciplinary action from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) after giving an interview during the EurAsia Cricket Series in Abu Dhabi, in which he said he was not happy playing for the Pakistan A team.
A PCB official said they had heard about the interview given by Yasir but not seen it as yet. “We will have a look at it when the offices open on Monday. We will also like to listen to what Yasir has to say before deciding to take any action. But one thing is clear he cannot give such statements under the code of conduct for players,” he added.
In the interview, Yasir expressed dissatisfaction at not being selected for the national side and said he was not happy playing for the Pakistan A side in the ongoing EurAsia Series in Abu Dhabi.
He also described his presence in the second string side as unnecessary. “It’s a good tournament, for the youngsters who are looking to make their mark. But for players like me it is not worthy,” he was reported as saying.
He also disclosed in the interview that he had told chief selector Wasim Bari he didn’t want to go to Abu Dhabi but they said he must go. Yasir is due to get married on May 15 in his hometown Peshawar.
The stylish batsman has not been picked for the Pakistan team since last playing against England in a one-dayer in Rawalpindi where he scored a half-century. Quite a consistent batsman at the top level who averages nearly 40 in Test and one-day cricket, cricket circles feel that the selectors have not handed out a fair treatment to Yasir by ignoring him for the India series and then for the tour of Sri Lanka.
Yasir has played only 17 Tests in his three-year career. He was only the second person in Test history to score a century in each innings on debut — West Indian Lawrence Rowe in 1971-72 was the first. Interestingly, Yasir and Imran Farhat have recorded four consecutive hundred-run partnership between them. In the interview Yasir claimed that even captain Inzamam-ul-Haq had assured him he would be in the team soon.
The question is, is Hameed justified in his proceedings? Justified, as in, regardless of whether or not how he “expressed” himself (in a wrongful manner, as many would come to the conclusion to), but has he been forgotten by the selectors? Are Salman Butt and Imran Farhat the two frontline batsmen, where, if one is sidelined with injury or is forced to sit on the benches, only then will Hameed come into the equation?
And our opening problems rise, once again, from the ashes.
