Waqar gets a raw deal

Lahore, Nov 14: Paceman Waqar Younis once again got a raw deal from the selectors when he was dropped from the 14-man squad for the first Test.

Although Waqar was never under consideration for a place in the playing eleven, he merited a place in the side after being the Man-ofthe-Series in the last home series against Sri Lanka and then leading Pakistan in Singapore in August.

Chairman of selectors Wasim Bari tried to defend Waqar's ouster but failed to give any conclusive answer. He argued that it would have been a disgrace for a player of Waqar's calibre had he not been picked in the playing line-up.

But is it not a bigger humiliation for Waqar who fails to qualify in the 14 after attending a week long training camp?

Bari pleaded that Waqar's exclusion was a unanimous decision - a claim later found to be far from true. In fact, the team management had contested Waqar's case on the pretext that he was a frontline player and needed to stay with the side.

The most depressing point is it was an open secret that the pitch for the first Test would be slow and turning one. But still Waqar was named in the probables! Waqar was not given a match either at Rawalpindi or Peshawar to show his fitness and form to press for a place in the side. His exclusion without examining his form and fitness is mindboggling and lacks professionalism on the part of the selectors.

Ironically, Waqar is one of the five players who receives gold medal for life time achievement at the end of the first Test.

"He is not be honoured because of this year's performance but because of his career performance," Bari said. Waqar has 308 Test wickets in 67 Tests, including two series winning performance in 1992 and 1996 against England.

Bari had no answer when pointed out if Azhar was not under consideration, why he was in the team.

Initially, there was a stalemate amongst the selectors and its coopted members. That's precisely why the selectors had submitted a 15- man squad with a tie between Waqar and Danish for the 14th place. The matter was resolved on Tuesday afternoon when the team went for approval from the advisory council of the PCB.

Bari may insist that the squad of 14 was for the first Test. But it is anybody's guess if Waqar cannot find a place in the Lahore Test, how will he get into the Faisalabad Test as he is not in the three-day match team which follows the first Test.

The 14-man squad is:

Moin Khan (captain), Inzamam-ul-Haq (vice-captain), Saeed Anwar, Salim Elahi, Shahid Afridi, Imran Nazir, Yousuf Youhana, Qaisar Abbas, Wasim Akram, Abdur Razzaq, Azhar Mahmood, Saqlain Mushtaq, Mushtaq Ahmad and Danish Kaneria.