Re: Unfair for Imran to single me out: Shoaib
Man!
A 50% fit Shoaib Akhtar is better than......whom again? A grave mistake. A fully-fit Shoaib Akhtar landed on the ground in the first test, bowled furiously for 20 minutes, was out of the field for more than the amount of time he bowled, parked himself in the dressing room, came back, finished his ground routine, and afterwards, it was business as usual. At the conclusion of first test, he was sent packing to a hospital. An unfit Shoaib Akhtar selected for the next test, upon whom's discretion? Lord save our "honorary" selectors from wrath and destruction. You should have seen his face after the first 15 minutes of the first session of the second test. I am not kidding. His face was breaking down. It looked dead serious, his entire face was absolutely on the verge of collapsing. He was kneeling down, hands on his knees, couldn't even go through his full run-up.
Shoaib Akhtar, at times during the series with India, had bowled with great pace and was lethal. It was after he has had a day's worth of rest and oxygen supplies attached to him. A major selection error. Anyone who is a proven unfit, even when declared 100% fit by himself, should always be given a layer of extra cautiousness. With a "50% fit" entity + that third-class Sami + legendary Hameed + devastating Akmal, we were deprived of players who actually had the capability to step into the field, being fully-fit and all, and actually show some guts and determination to at least draw the series. What a farce of a team. Robbed off of opportunities to select young blood in the team, such a depressive mindset. Depressive is an under-estimation, being 'honorary' depressive seems fitting. I sometimes wonder why Malik (chose to) or (forced to) sit-out, even though he was 'supposedly' injured? Why not select him also, the captain of Pakistan? Why select only the big-name entities, why not the captain also? Egos and double-standards, hand-in-hand.