Wasim Bari defends selection

Karachi, June 6: The chairman of selectors Wasim Bari defended the dropping of Shahid Afridi saying that he was more a useful one-day cricketer.

"It is considered that he is a better one-day cricketer. Like other teams, we pick different players for different levels of the game," Bari said.

The chief selector admitted that Shahid scored runs and got wickets in his last Test against Sri Lanka but emphasised that he played as an opener.

"Now we have a specialist opening pair. Besides, we assume that wickets in Sri Lanka will be more conducive to spinners than fast bowlers or batsmen," he said.

Asked if he assumed that there will be slow turning tracks why four fast bowlers and two all-rounders have been chosen, he said: "We have given the team management different combinations. I mean the captain can play one fast bowler, two all-rounders and two specialist pinners. The two all-rounders (Razzaq and Azhar) are equally good with the bat and the ball."

He added that the batting which was struggling in the West Indies would be improved with the return of Saeed Anwar in the top order and Azhar Mahmood in the lower half.