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Friday, August 27, 2010

Waqar, Afridi at loggerheads

Waqar Younis is reportedly at loggerheads with Shahid Afridi over the omission of Shoaib Malik.
Besides the ODI and Twenty20 captain, Waqar also expressed his unhappiness over the exclusion of Umar Amin with chief selector Mohsin Khan for the squad for the one-day series in England.
Reliable sources told PTI that Waqar wanted Malik and Amin to be retained in the one-day squad and had disagreed with Mohsin and Afridi when they consulted him on phone while finalising the squad on Wednesday.
"Waqar felt that Pakistan needed Malik's experience for the one-day series and he would get back into form soon. While he also believes that Umar Amin is a great talent for the future and must be given confidence," one source said.
Malik played in three Tests in England and failed in them while Amin too came a cropper.
Both were dropped from the one-day squad by the selectors owing to poor form.
Afridi also said it was time for Pakistan to start preparing a nucleus of players for the 2011 World Cup.
The source said the chief selector had also questioned the need to have rookie left-arm spinner Reza Hasan for the Test matches when Pakistan had been playing the experienced spinner Abdul Rehman.
Incidentally, Pakistan's former coach Mudassar Nazar has also come out in favor of having Malik in the team despite the all-rounder's recent poor form.
Mudassar told a cricket website that Malik's omission came as a surprise to him.
"Shoaib Malik's omission has been rather surprising and is not justified. He has been a good one day player and should have been in the squad," he said.

England ODIs, T20s a challenging task for me: Afridi

KARACHI: Following an abrupt retirement from Test cricket in his first match back after four years, Pakistan’s ODI and Twenty20 captain Shahid Afridi set off for England, this time confident of a good show against the hosts in conditions still tough for him and his team.
But the captain agreed that the limited-overs team was better than the Test squad, given the lack of technique and temperament.“We have a better side for ODIs and T20s than we have in the longer version as our players lack much-needed patience for the Tests,” Afridi told The Express Tribune. “It would be a challenging series for me as captain as well since things won’t be that easy against England. They are a balanced side and at home they are very tough because they exploit their conditions very well.”
Afridi will be leaving for England tonight, well ahead of his teammates with the final phase of the tour – back-to-back Twenty20s and five ODIs – not starting until September 5, as he seeks to generate funds for the flood victims.

Pool of players sought before the World Cup
Meanwhile, Afridi has asked the selection committee and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to prepare a list of players for the World Cup that will start in February next year.
“I’ve asked the board to select a pool of around 25 players for the event. There’s little time left in the World Cup and the list should be prepared early because it would help us in finalising our best players for tournament,” he said before adding that the list should be finalised before the series against South Africa in October.

Akhtar’s selection defended
Shoaib Akhtar may be in the twilight of his career, but the 35-year old pacer is still an asset for the captain who feels the fast bowler can still win matches for his team. “He’s an asset for the team. The opposition feels his pressure because he has the ability to win us matches. I won’t over-bowl him and use him for short spells.”
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