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KARACHI: Pakistan’s seasoned opener Saeed Anwar has ruled out any possibility of announcing his retirement from international cricket after being ignored by the selectors for the tour of Zimbabwe.
“I always consult and seek advice from my elders and they have advised me not to give up hope as yet and leave it up to God to decide my future as a Pakistan player,” Saeed told ‘The News’ from Lahore.
Expressing his deep disappointment at not being selected for the tour of Zimbabwe in either the Test or one-day squads, Saeed said he could not understand the criteria behind the selection. "I don’t want to sound critical but if the trial match was the criteria for selecting the team then Shahid Afridi scored a duck and Saleem Elahi struggled for runs. I have nothing against them, but why have they been selected?
“I would have no regrets at not being selected if there were better openers than me picked in the team. But this is not the case and I believe I am still the best and I can serve Pakistan team with my experience and skills as an opener,” he stressed.
Hitting out at the statement of chief selector Wasim Bari that he (Saeed) had lost confidence and interest in the game, the 34-year-old left-hander said in the One-day series in Australia in June he himself had offered to open the innings after returning to the team after eight months.
“They were sending Shahid Afridi to open but I said I wanted to open and face the best opening attack in the world. I also opened in Morocco, Nairobi and Colombo. If I had lost confidence or interest I would not have wanted to open in these tournaments.”
Saeed said he never took the trial match so seriously which is why he went down to bat at number four. “But I have been batting in the nets and also training regularly. I have not lost my appetite for the game and, in fact, I am enjoying my batting now,” he added.
Saeed, who has scored over 8600 runs in 242 One-day Internationals and 4052 runs in 55 Tests at an average of 45.52, said he was surprised at all the talk about his commitment, age, fitness and form. “When Steve and Mark Waugh can continue playing for Australia, when Sri Lanka can recall Aravinda de Silva, why am I being ignored? I am still good enough,” he maintained.
Saeed admitted that since his comeback to the team his 11 innings had not fetched many runs (229) but pointed out which opener did not struggle after coming back to international cricket after a long lay-off.
“I have still maintained an average of 35 in my last 25 one-day innings while in my last Test innings I had scored 101,” he recalled. The former Pakistan captain also lashed out at the constant statements and reminders that he had opted out of the Test series against Australia to take a rest and instead gone to play exhibition matches in Cardiff, Wales. “I never opted out of the Tests against Australia. The factual position is that I kept on telling the captain and manager that I am available to play the series and they can confirm this. And they said they had conveyed my willingness to the Board.”
“I am no coward to back out of any series. I have not survived so long and scored runs as an opener in the last 10 years by being cowardly against the best fast and spin bowlers in the world,” Saeed added. He made it clear he would continue playing and remained optimistic his time would come. “I am still looking forward to playing the World Cup.”
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Saeed Anwar finally speaks out at Bari’s bias.How they can select a fialure like Elahi ahead of Saeed is a mystery to me.
Shame on PCB!!!