Selectors look for new combination (7 October 1998)
KARACHI, Oct 6: Defeat by an innings and 99 runs in the series opener against Australia has pushed the Pakistan cricket selectors back on the drawing board and possible team combinations for the second Test are being discussed
07-Oct-1998
7 October 1998
Selectors look for new combination
The Dawn
KARACHI, Oct 6: Defeat by an innings and 99 runs in the series opener
against Australia has pushed the Pakistan cricket selectors back on
the drawing board and possible team combinations for the second Test
are being discussed.
Informed sources said the selectors have more or less decided to
recall Ijaz Ahmad who was excluded from the 14 players that were
announced for the first Test.
Ijaz, a veteran of 46 Tests and a scorer of 2,416 runs at 37.16, will
replace Mohammad Wasim and will bat at the pivotal one-down spot.
But deliberations were still on among the selectors and team
management on the right combination for the second Test starting at
Peshawar from Oct 15.
One of the options is to play with six specialist batsmen, a spinner,
three seamers and a wicketkeeper while the other is to play with five
specialist batsmen, two spinners, three seamers and a wicketkeeper.
However, the consensus building so far is for the inclusion of six
batsmen, three seamers, a spinner and a wicketkeeper.
In this connection, the selectors are set to give Yousuf Yohanna his
first Test cap on home soil and also include paceman Shoaib Akhtar
for Saqlain Mushtaq.
"There is still enough time for the second Test. But we are
considering what team should be played," chief selector Wasim Bari
said.
"We will announce the 14 next week and it will then be upto the team
management to pick the final eleven," he added.
Reliable sources said there was a split between the selectors and the
team management on the composition of the first Test squad.
They said the selectors wanted to play Shoaib Akhtar in place of
Mohammad Husain. But the suggestion was refused on the argument that
the wicket would take more spin on the fifth day and the team batting
last would face all sorts of problems in tackling spinners.
Interestingly, there was never a fourth innings in the match.
The likely 14 for the second Test are (first 11 expected to play the
match):
Aamir Sohail (captain), Saeed Anwar, Ijaz Ahmad, Salim Malik,
Inzamam-ul-Haq, Yousuf Yohanna, Moin Khan, Azhar Mahmood, Wasim
Akram, Mushtaq Ahmad, Shoaib Akhtar, Aqib Javed, Mohammad Wasim and
Saqlain Mushtaq.
Source :: The Dawn (www.dawn.com)