|
|
| January 25, 2007 | Thursday | Muharram 05, 1428 |
Shoaib should have been retained in team: Imran
KARACHI, Jan 24: Former Pakistan captain Imran Khan on Wednesday supported fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, saying he should have been kept with the team despite his injury problems.
“You keep your match winners with the team and Shoaib’s only two bursts put Pakistan in the match winning position in the Port Elizabeth Test,” Imran told reporters here, referring to the ongoing series in South Africa.
Shoaib capped his return to Test cricket with a magnificent 4-36 in the second Test against South Africa last week before tearing his hamstring muscle. The maverick fast bowler did not bowl in the second innings of the Test, which Pakistan won by five wickets on Monday. He was due to miss the third Test starting at Cape Town from Friday and was returning home on Thursday.
Imran emphasised injury is part and parcel of a fast bowler’s career. “Every fast bowler gets unfit and because of his action and speed Shoaib has more fitness problems but that doesn't mean you don't play him at all. He won Pakistan the most important series against England in 2005,” reminded Imran, referring to Shoaib’s 17 wickets which guided Pakistan to a 2-0 Test series win over England, who had come to Pakistan on the back of regaining the Ashes from Australia after 18 years.
Shoaib, however, had to undergo twin knee operations in February last year and missed Pakistan's tours of Sri Lanka and England. His career was also hit by a failed doping test in October last year when he was banned for two years in November before an appellate committee lifted the ban on the grounds that he took the banned substances unknowingly.
To add further woes to his recent injury, Shoaib’s verbal spat with coach Bob Woolmer in Port Elizabeth also hit the headlines and the team management fined him an undisclosed sum after a disciplinary hearing.
Imran felt not selecting Shoaib in the original 17-man squad was a great injustice. “I would blame the selectors for not selecting Shoaib in the original squad and it was the PCB chief (Dr Nasim Ashraf) who selected him and sent him as a replacement.
“When I was the captain I selected unfit leg-spinner Abdul Qadir for the tour of England in 1987 and paceman Wasim Akram for the West Indies tour a year later, simply because they remained with the team and got fit.”
Imran reckoned Shoaib’s verbal spat with Woolmer was his reaction for not being selected. “He (Shoaib) would have been angry for not being selected in the first place, so he would have lost his temper.”
The PCB announced Shoaib and pacer Umar Gul, who on Wednesday returned home from South Africa after injuring his ankle, would start rehabilitation before the World Cup in the West Indies.
Meanwhile, Imran has said that Pakistan can overcome Australia in the upcoming World Cup if the fast bowlers continue to excel in the coveted tournament as they are doing on the South Africa tour presently.
Talking to reporters at the Karachi Press Club (KPC) here on Wednesday, Imran stated Pakistan would be the main hurdle for the Aussies as the Green blazers have the services of world’s best bowlers.
Praising the fast bowlers, Imran expressed that Pakistan have the best bowling attack in the world as well as the best pace combination the country ever had, saying the bowlers will play key role in the World Cup starting from March 13 in the West Indies, and adding that Shoaib will be the trump-card for Pakistan in the World Cup. –-Agencies
|
|
