Quite ironic from Aamir Sohail. When he was the selector after 2003 WC failure, he choose all new faces and discarded the great Paksitani opening batsmen Saeed Anwar, and Waqar And Wasim and made them retire. Now he’s asking for the other extreme, bring people who have been away for so long. Although I agree that we need a No.3 player and not have No.5 or No.6 fill in at No.3 in Australia. Isn’t Aamir Sohail the one who introduced to us Mohammad Hafeez as test/ODI opener.
DAWN.COM | Cricket | Wasim, Yasir Hameed ought to be in test squad: Aamer
LONDON: Former left handed opening batsman Aamer Sohail has stated that a batsman like Mohammad Wasim or Yasir Hameed should have been selected for the Test series in Australia on the basis of their experience.
‘If Younis was not going to tour Australia, then you needed more experience in the top order and someone like Mohammad Wasim or Yasir Hameed should have been selected, he told UK-based website
Sohail who earlier this year resigned as Director, National Cricket Academy, argued that Wasim has a good record in Australia and for the past couple of seasons has been performing very well in domestic
cricket.
‘He is a specialist number three and would have been a good choice for the tour down under. If the selectors can bring back Misbah ul Haq at his age, then Wasim was also an option.’
Sohail also felt that the number three position can be comfortably occupied by an opening batsman and he felt that Yasir Hameed would have been another good choice.
‘Yasir has a lot of experience and our current top order looks inexperienced, I would have chosen Yasir as an option to bat at number three,’ he added.
While there still being a lot of uncertainty surrounding the number three position in Tests for Pakistan Sohail stated that Yousuf has to bat at number three.
‘He likes to bat at number four, but you have to ask yourself is there really much difference in batting at number three or number four.’
Sohail said Yousuf needs to utilise his experience in Australia and ensure that he bats at number three throughout the series. Also if Yousuf bats at number three, it would give the opening batsman some
confidence knowing that there is such an experienced campaigner due to come in next.
The former Pakistan captain also expressed his disappointment at the quality of slip fielding in New Zealand and said if the team hopes to beat Australia, it must strengthened its slip cordon.
‘Fielding is a very personal thing. You work hard and it pays off.
To stand in the slips for a lot of overs you have to have a strong back and legs, very much like a wicketkeeper, but unfortunately a number of our boys are not 100per cent fit and therefore struggle to field in the slips.’