Pakistan selectors are planning to recall some discarded batsmen, including Shoaib Malik, to strengthen the national team's batting line up, which they feel lacks firepower.
Published: Jul 23, 2012, 07:30 PM (IST)
Edited: Jul 23, 2012, 07:30 PM (IST)
Shoaib Malik has been named in the national T20 squad for the Australia series and T20 World Cup but the selectors are yet to announce the One-day squad for the Australia series © AFP
Lahore: Jul 23, 2012
Pakistan selectors are planning to recall some discarded batsmen, including Shoaib Malik, to strengthen the national team’s batting line up, which they feel lacks firepower.
Sources close to the national selectors said that in the first stage the selectors were planning to recall discarded opener Yasir Hameed, middle-order batsman Fawad Alam and Malik in the one-day squad.
Malik has been named in the national T20 squad for the Australia series and T20 World Cup but the selectors are yet to announce the One-day squad for the Australia series.
Hameed has not been selected to play for Pakistan since 2010 and Fawad has also been out of favor with the selectors.
One source said the selectors were concerned with the inconsistent form of the batsmen barring the exception of youngsters Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq.
“Their feeling is that the time is right to start planning ahead to stabilise the batting line-up in the ODI and Test formats,” the source said.
“Basically, the selectors feel that the batsmen are not scoring consistency and secondly they are not getting big scores as was the requirement of the team. The planning is to not only recall some discarded players like Yasir and Fawad but also give more responsibility to Malik and also try out some new faces,” the source said.
The source said the selectors were worried since Pakistan will travel to South Africa for a full series early next year.
“The idea is to start rebuilding the batting line up by adding fresh players. That is one reason why the selectors have also picked the top performers of the last domestic season to attend a conditioning camp at the national cricket academy,” the source said.
Hameed, who has played 25 Tests and 56 ODIs, was not considered for selection after he was involved in the News of the World interview when Pakistan were touring England in 2010.
The interview led to Hameed being banned by the PCB but later the ban was removed and he was fined half-a-million rupees.(PTI)
