The World Cup squad selected by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) included a few snubs and some surprises as well.
Fawad Alam, a regular performer throughout last year, was dropped to pave way for nobody knows who.
Today, however, the surprises have gone too far.
Rahat Ali has been called in to replace injured Junaid Khan. Rahat played his only one-day international two years back in 2012 against Sri Lanka; and has frequently failed to make it to the ODI team.
One must ask the board:
When a player did not even qualify for a spot on the regular ODI squad, how was he pronounced the best choice to replace Junaid, who was the linchpin in a largely toothless pace attack?
Such decisions not only discourage merit but raise suspicions in the dressing room.
The recent New Zealand series has already exposed Pakistan’s dull bowling attack.
Keeping in view the recent performances, it is safe to say that the current Pakistani bowling line is the worst in the Pakistan’s cricketing history till date.
Who's calling the shots?
No one knows.
Does Misbah really believe in a miracle to happen with a such a crippled bowling attack at the World Cup.
The non-availability of seasoned bowlers, such as Saeed Ajmal, Umar Gul and Junaid Khan is nothing less than a calamity inflicted upon the national team at such a crucial time.
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To deal with such a disaster, the selection committee has opted for bowlers who can hardly put up a decent fight against strong opponents, let alone win games for Pakistan.
One must ask the board, why the selection of Mohammad Talha, Anwar Ali, Sohail Tanvir, or veterans Yasir Arafat, Abdul Razzak or even Mohammad Sami not considered?
Why were Zulfiqar Babar or Raza Hasan not considered?
What was the point of taking Sohail Khan and Yasir Shah along with the squad if they were to remain on the sidelines?
It is not exceptionally difficult to realise that tournaments like the World Cup are not the stage for experiments. Some experience is required too.
True, these players have been afforded plenty of opportunities but when you're in trouble you do not want rookies on the battlefield.
Sami, Tanvir, Arafat or Razzak may not be in their top form at present, but no one can question their experience and ability to outclass any opponent in any given situation due to their understanding and experience of the game.
If stats from Pakistan's domestic ODI tournaments are to be gauged, Rahat features seventh on the list. Sadaf Hussain and Sami come in at second and third respectively. What about Aizaz Cheema with an average of 25.78 from his 14 ODIs?
Recently, Dawn conducted a public poll on the possible replacement for Junaid Khan.
The option given to the readers were that of Sohail Tanvir, Imran Khan, Shoaib Malik and Raza Hasan.
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In a total of 8,867 responses, people favoured the selection of Tanvir (33.57 per cent), followed by Imran (28.12 per cent), Malik (24.18 per cent) and Hasan (14.3 per cent).
To say the least, any person with a little bit of cricketing knowledge could have formulated a better 15-man squad for the World Cup than the one made by the PCB.
Only time will tell if there were any preferential selections, because in Pakistan, secrets never remain hidden in a gentleman's game.
