A fortnight before the first Test starts in Multan the national selectors, with the concurrence of the coach, Bob Woolmer, and captain Inzamamul Haq, have announced a 16-member squad to confront the Englishmen in a three-match series. It is surprising that for a home venue the number has been raised to 16 instead of 14.
On paper the conglomerate appears younger than its adversary still the selectors keenly watched the two trials or warmup matches for the players' form and fitness. One finds that all-rounder Abdul Razzaq, usually a sure first choice, could not find a place in the selected lot due to elbow injury and will miss the first trial of strength. Sadly pacer Sami has reported groin injury.
One cannot but welcome the recall from wilderness of 'Rawalpindi Express', presently the speediest among the world's pacers along with Brett Lee of Australia. There were question marks over his form, physical fitness as also what was termed as discipline.
He was allegedly difficult to be controlled off the field. However, the fast bowler so much impressed the coach in the nets and the trial ties that the selectors had per force to induct him in the list of 16 players. Woolmer thinks that Shoaib Akhter is a match-winner with his volcanic pace. His straight deliveries plus the swing and swerve will put considerable strain on the nerves of the rival batsmen.
In the second trial fixture at the Qadhafi Stadium, when the wicket was supposed to be docile, Shoaib removed three batsmen, among whom were Shahid Afridi, Asim Kamal and Kamran Akmal. Both his tremendous speed and ball control were laudable. Obviously he could not have missed the bus for the upcoming series, even though he could not get the nod against India and the West Indies early his year.
The bowling, particularly in the seaming department, is quite balanced though the omission of Uman Gul and the inclusion of Arshad Khan, a spinner, when there are already two slow bowlers, cannot be justified. The officials may point to the plethora of pacers in the country but Gul belongs to a different class.
He had almost single-handedly won the Test against India when they last visited this country and struck hard blows on them. Maybe there was a toss between Shabbir and Gul in which the former was preferred. However, there may be a chance for Gul now that Sami is to sit in the pavilion due to injury.
The spin side will hopefully be well served by the curving flight and crafty turn on home wickets by Danish Kaneria and Mushtaq Ahmad, the senior bowler, who has been specially named in the team after a highly successful stint with the English county, Sussex, during the just-ended season.
The coach feels that both the slow bowlers will torment the Englishmen in the three-Test series.
The experts expect the bowlers to deliver the goods even though there are fears that the strips may be flat, which means there will be more responsibility on the shoulders of the batsmen. Thankfully skipper Inzamamul Haq, after a lean period, has run into form with a delightful and belligerent unbeaten 70 in the second venture when Shoaib Akhtar's pace deliveries were harassing the Pakistan XI at the Qadhafi Stadium tie.
It is strange that among the selectees there is only one genuine opening batsman in Salman Butt. He is yet struggling to gain his fluency and form but it seems the selectors want to bank on him to open with Shoaib Malik, the new found batsman to deal with the seaming deliveries of the Englishmen.
Cricket experts feel that the problem of the opening batsmen has not yet been resolved and perhaps the search will have to be continued till a permanent and reliable pair has been found.
The selection of Hasan Raza, a consistent scorer in domestic cricket and a success in the trial matches, will strengthen the middle order if he shows the big match temperament unlike Ghulam Ali of some years ago, who was usually a failure in important international fixtures.
Now that Asim Kamal is facing a bad patch one thought that Faisal Iqbal, a centurion at the Lahore trial match, should have been tapped and given a chance. A disciple of Javed Miandad he needed encouragement to prove his worth for the national outfit.
It is to be seen if Kamran Akmal is fitted in the middle order or is asked to open the innings.
The strips have been slammed more often than not by none other than Shaharyar Khan, the chairman of the board, for being too slow and dead. They will aid and abet neither the pacers nor the spinners. In that way the venom of speedsters will be considerably contained. It is also doubtful if the spinners will be successful with their flighted deliveries and change of pacer. One hopes that sporting pitches are prepared for thrilling encounters and close results.
The curator, Bashir Kardar, has now revised his views on wicket preparation and has promised to prepare sporting strips.
The fans of the game are waiting for a tough duel at Multan. Though after their success against Australia the visitors should be taken as a stronger side the enthusiasts of cricket think that home conditions and support of the crowds would boost the morale of the national formation to put up the best possible show and would not allow the England players to carry away the honours easefully.
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