Aamir Sohail not in Sahara Cup squad (21 Aug 1997)

21 August 1997

Aamir Sohail not in Sahara Cup squad

By Our Sports Reporter

KARACHI, Aug 20: The three-member national selection committee has not included Aamir Sohail in its tentative 14-member list for the Sahara Cup, investigations reveal.

The tentative list will be given a final shape on Thursday when Majid Khan arrives at the cricket headquarters in Lahore after his three-day visit to Karachi.

Member selection committee, Zaheer Abbas, will also be asked to give a detailed briefing relating to the availability of some players. After the team is finalised (hopefully on Thursday), it will be submitted to the chief executive who will forward it to the Executive Council for its approval. The Council meeting will be held on Saturday. Chairman of selectors, Salim Altaf, said from Lahore that until he doesn't receive first-hand information, he can neither finalise the side nor can comment on it.

"I am hoping that on Thursday, the clouds will clear and I will be able to discuss a few things with you," he added.

However, it has to be confirmed that the selectors have decided not to include Aamir Sohail for the Canadian trip.

The decision to ignore an experienced allrounder seems to be mind-boggling as Pakistan is already without Wasim Akram and Mushtaq Ahmad.

Waqar Younis has so far not informed the PCB about his availability but as the county championship position stands at present, the paceman's Glamorgan is placed fourth and still stands a good chance to win the championship.

The reasons cited for leaving out Aamir Sohail is his bad performance in the Asia Cup. Sohail scored 6 and 0 in the two matches.

However, what has not been considered is the fact that the reliable batsman was returning to international cricket after being sidelined for six months. He was under pressure and not in the best frame of mind after he indulged himself in betting and match-fixing controversy. According to sources close to the selection committee, Aamir Sohail will be advised to go to the domestic circuit and regain his composure and concentration so that he was in a fine shape for the home series against South Africa and the West Indies.

What is even more intriguing is the fact that the selectors have retained Ramiz Raja. Raja will be officially appointed captain by the Council on Saturday but the Council appoints the captain who is in the team. The question is that what is the basis of Ramiz Raja's choice as a batsman which forced them to pick him and not Aamir Sohail or Basit Ali. Since his controversial return to the national team in April after last playing for Pakistan in Sharjah in April 1996, Raja has appeared in 11 matches scoring 6, 20, 47 (dropped in one match against Zimbabwe in Sharjah), 49, 22, 42, 76, 11 (in India), 52 and 29 (in the Asia Cup). He has aggregated 366 runs at 33.27 with just two half centuries (76 against Sri Lanka and 52 against Bangladesh).

As far as Basit Ali is concerned, the impression earlier given was that Haroon Rasheed objected to his inclusion. But now Haroon is not a member of the selection committee. What problem the selectors have to make up their mind on Basit.

The expected 14 may be: Ramiz Raja (captain), Saeed Anwar (vice-captain), Inzamamul Haq, Salim Malik, Ijaz Ahmad, Hasan Raza, Moin Khan (wicketkeeper), Saqlain Mushtaq, Mohammad Husain, Shahid Afridi, Azhar Mahmood, Aqib Javed, Shahid Nazir and Shoaib Akhtar.

Source:: Dawn (https://dawn.com/)