**Test cap has become cheap, says Intikhab **
By Our Special Correspondent
MULTAN, Sept 3: It seems that there is scant respect for the coveted national cap in Pakistan after three more players on Wednesday were bestowed the title of Test cricketers.
At least two of the selections took everyone by surprise when the team were named before the start of the third and final Test against Bangladesh.
Taufiq Umar was officially declared to be “unfit” with a knee injury the day before the match got under way to enable Salman Butt to access the now easily available Test cap.
The other major shock was the inclusion of relatively unknown Yasir Ali. Yasir who hails from the Hazro area of Attock in the NWFP, toured South Africa with the Pakistan Academy squad last month and picked up five wickets in the second four-day game at Centurion.
According to insiders, both Salman and Yasir owe their Test caps to some very influential personalities who clouted their influence to have them included in the team.
Gone are the days when the word “merit” was at least, given some priority. But now any Tom, Dick and Harry in this country with the right connections can don the green cap.
What was the justification of playing Yasir here when there are many more deserving pace bowlers who have performed with distinction at the domestic level. The likes of Jaffar Nazir, Fazle Akbar, Abdul Rauf, Najaf Shah, Zahid Saeed, Fahad Masood have been doing well in recent seasons.
The policy adopted by the current five-man selection committee, headed by Aamir Sohail, lacks consistency. One prime example of this inconsistency is despite being in the 15-man squad all throughout the series, left arm fast bowler Mohammad Khalil was overlooked. Nobody will be surprised if the young man is discarded by the selectors in favour of another “sifarishi” just to appease someone.
**Former Pakistan captain Intikhab Alam was critical of the PCB’s selection policy. “If Khalil is not worthy of being Test material then why was he retained in the squad in the first place,” he questioned. “These days the Pakistan cap has become cheap any anyone can get one without aspiring for it,” declared Intikhab. **
Intikhab further says: “In our time in the 1970s the cap was earned after years of performance but now you score a hundred and you are in the Test or one-day side.” But even then there’s seems to be no end to the menace of this culture of favouritism. It is quite apparent that Salman and Farhan Adil, the third debutant in the Multan Test, were played in a call of truce between certain individuals within the team setup.
Farhan, the 25-year-old right-handed batsman who had been with the squad since the first Test at Karachi, was elevated at the expense of Pakistan vice-captain Yousuf Youhana. Youhana thus missed out a last chance for a long innings that would have been an ideal preparation for the South African series.
Salman, the ex-junior Pakistan captain, may have scored runs aplenty against South Africa Academy, but there was no way he could have come in the Test XI in place of Taufiq Umar. Taufiq, one of the few finds in the last 24 months, needs much required practice ahead of the tough South Africa Tests.
A couple of days ago, Salman praised both PCB chief Lt Gen Tauqir Zia and Aamir Sohail in an interview. “I salute General Sahib for setting up the national academy which has made careers of players like me and I also salute Aamir Sohail for his backing.”
**Since the present setup took over the reins of PCB on Dec 15, 1999, 21 players have been awarded caps in 32 Tests. And of this lot, only pacer Mohammad Sami, batsmen Younis Khan and Taufiq Umer and leg-spinner Danish Kaneria have managed to make an impression. **