KARACHI:
“Pakistan Cricket continues to suffer due to incompetent people and the PCB should ensure that the right people are selected for the right job for key positions.”
This was stated by former Test cricketer and chief selector Salahuddin Ahmed Sallu while speaking to the Express Tribune on Tuesday.
Feeling quite dejected after Pakistan’s ten-wicket loss to Bangladesh in the first Test, Sallu said it was painful to see the national team’s chart going down with each passing day.
“I feel really hurt to see our team losing so many matches. This has never happened with Pakistan, which has been a force to be reckoned with in international cricket for so many years in the past,” Sallu said.
“I have been associated with Pakistan cricket for more than 30 years and have seen our team achieve such wonderful victories. We can still revive our cricket if we resurrect things at the grassroots level and reorganize school and club cricket.” , remarked Sallu who held the selectors’ position for a world record ten times.”So many of our great players came from school and club cricket, which may be the key to the renaissance.”
He insisted that tough decisions are the need of the hour to put the game on the right track. “While I commend the steps taken by PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi, I would like to advise him to make domestic cricket mandatory for the players.”
“Also, I had pointed it out before that incompetent people like Azhar Mahmood are hurting our cricket and we need to get rid of them as soon as possible,” insisted Sallu. “He was sacked by Islamabad United during the PSL 8 season due to his inability to motivate or guide the players, so why are we carrying him with the team?”
The experienced official also observed that the team’s coaches were not performing their duties diligently, which was evident in the way the Pakistani batsmen were fielding. “The reckless shot played by Saud Shakeel in the second innings was shocking. I have rarely seen a player falter in such a painful way as he left the crease without even looking at the trajectory of the ball,” noted Sallu.
“Also, the way Shan Masood, Babar Azam and others got out in the second innings showed the lack of application on their part. Coaches need to groom our batsmen to handle pressure situations.”
Sallu also observed that the Pakistan bowlers never posed a real threat to the Bangladesh bowlers. “I feel the Bangladesh bowlers took advantage of the Pindi pitch and conditions much better than Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah and others. Australia’s bowling coach Jason Gillespie needs to work on that and train our bowlers to be effective in all conditions.
“I am also surprised because we went into the Test without a specialist like Abrar Ahmed, which proved costly for us,” concluded Sallu.
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