KARACHI: Former first-class cricketer and women’s coach Adnan Jamal has slammed the national women’s selection committee for ignoring some of the deserving players for the tour of the West Indies.

In a statement issued here on Saturday, Adnan alleged that selection of Pakistan women’s team was not made on merit and several deserving players were overlooked.

Adnan cited the example of left-arm spinner Sadia Yousuf, all-rounder Kainat Imtiaz , Nahida Bibi who were not considered in the team despite their consistent performances in women’s circuit.

He said Sadia from Sargodha claimed 17 wickets in eight matches while representing Omar Associates in Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah championship. She was ranked among the top three in International Cricket Council (ICC) women’s ranking in the past also.

Kianat Imtiaz of Karachi also enjoyed good all-round show with the bat and ball in the same event but was placed among the reserves which was disappointing. Similarly, Nahida Bibi is also an emerging batter from Quetta who was ignored in the final 15-member squad.

Adnan disclosed that Sadia was punished for leaving Zarai Tariqiati Bank Ltd and joining Omar Associates while others two were also not in the good books of skipper Sana Mir.

He said Sana , who is also the captain of ZTBL team, was influencing the one-man selection committee of Farrukh Zaman in the final selection and to leave out certain players.

Adnan appealed to Chairman PCB Shaharyar M Khan and Chairman Executive Committee Najam Sethi for increasing the number of women’s selection committee members to at least three. He added that while PCB chief was taking great personal interest in the promotion of women’s cricket but some elements in the women’s cricket are not working in the right direction.

He alleged that a number undeserving players like Syed Naini Abidi, Daina Baig and Sania Khan were selected on the behest of the captain Giving statistical data of the women players, he said from 2013 till now Nain Abidi had scored just 331 runs in 25 ODIs with only two half centuries while in 19 Twenty20 Internationals, she has scored 313 runs but was still in the team for being the captain’s favourite.

Similarly, Diana had captured just three wickets in three matches of Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah Trophy while Sania had also claimed just three wickets in 11 ODIs but were amazingly favoured for selection. Sania also got just six wickets in eight matches of Fatima Jinnah Trophy.

“With this kind of record, you cannot pick players in the Pakistan team. This is favouritism because there are other more deserving players who are forced to sit out,” said Adnan.

Adnan observed that said due to a faulty selection policy, the pool of players for the women’s national team was not increasing and the departmental women cricket teams were also suffering.—APP

Published in Dawn, August 30th, 2015

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