Unfit Azhar picked for Sharjah Cup

The Pakistan cricket selectors had picked an unfit Azhar Mahmood for the ongoing Sharjah Cup after having bungled up the case of paceman Mohammad Akram last August.

According to insiders in the board, Azhar was struggling was stomach injury owing to using wrong medication for side strain.

Sources further said Azhar had skipped PIA's three successive matches in the Patron's Trophy after having played in the first game and finished with a match haul of 10 wickets.

They further said Azhar had taken limited part in the training camp, held prior to team's departure, and also watched the one-day practice game between Pakistan XI and Rest of Pakistan from the dressing room.

Sources said Azhar has been advised a six-week rest and it was highly unlikely that he would appear in any of the remaining three matches, in case Pakistan reaches the final, in Sharjah.

Earlier in August, the selectors had picked paceman Mohammad Akram. And if Akram's explanation is to be believed, he had advised the concerned authorities not to consider him for the matches as he was planning to proceed to England.

The selectors would continue to pick unfit players unless they don't visit the stadia. Their lack of interest can be judged from the fact that the chairman of selectors Wasim Bari visited the UBL Sports Complex only on Sunday after having missed the entire previous round action and much of the ongoing proceedings.

While Bari was generous enough to make a courtesy call at the UBL Sports Complex, his fellow selector Mohsin Khan has yet to make his presence felt despite being employed at a handsome Rs 30,000 monthly stipend.

Highly placed sources further revealed that the current Pakistan team have at least three players whose selection was not supported by the selectors. But instead of pleading the cases of the players and convincing the concerned authorities with their arguments, they kept mum.

Imran Nazir, Fazle Akbar and Arshad Khan were in the selectors' squad but Taufiq Umer, Shoaib Akhtar and Shoaib Malik were picked instead in the side that was named Oct 13.