Wasim can make a difference as Chief Selector: Aamir Sohail

ISLAMABAD, Dec 30 (APP): Former Skipper Aamir Sohail was optimistic about Mohammad Wasim’s appointment as the Chief Selector, saying he can make a difference by selecting the right players for the longest form of the game.

“What really fills me with optimism about Wasim’s appointment as Chief Selector is the simple fact that he has been involved with domestic cricket for a while now.

What that means is that he knows about the good players in our domestic game.

This is because of his knowledge of the game in Pakistan due to his role as coach of Northern and also as a commentator.

But where he can really make a difference as Chief Selector is in selecting the right players for the longest form of the game,” he wrote in his blog for Pakpassion.net.

Aamir said the problem we have at the moment was that the people responsible for picking our Test side were picking batsmen based on their strike-rate and how good most of them were in the Pakistan Super League (PSL).

“What should be happening is that Test batsmen should be picked on how long they can occupy the crease, their technique, their mental strength and whether they can bat for long periods and all day if needed.

“It’s ludicrous to pick players for the 5-day format based on their performances in twenty-over cricket. There is no logic to this and we can see what sort of impact this logic is having on our Test team.

We need horses for courses theory rather than trying to slot T20 cricketers into the Test team.

Pick proper Test batsmen who have been performing in 4-day domestic cricket such as Saud Shakeel, Usman Salahuddin and Mohammad Saad for Test matches instead of just sloggers for what is the toughest format,” he said.

He said players who were not only experienced but have good technique and have a good understanding of the game were the kind of cricketers who qualify to represent Pakistan, and this will be something he was hoping that Wasim would prefer for the national side.

Speaking about Mohammad Amir’s retirement from international cricket, he said Amir’s recent decision to retire from international cricket seems to have been triggered by his differences with the team management.

“But then we shouldn’t be surprised by this as this is not a new phenomenon because this situation where players are dissatisfied with team management has been in existence for many years.

“Instead of an atmosphere of unity and harmony in the side, we have a confrontational setup which is probably the cause of players feeling disillusioned with the team management, so in that sense Amir’s decision to walk away from playing for Pakistan should not really be a surprise to anyone,” he said.