KARACHI: Former Test cricketers and chief selectors Mohsin Hasan Khan and Iqbal Qasim on Friday expressed their surprise over the axing of former ODI captain Azhar Ali and successful pacer Sohail Khan from the Pakistan squad recently named for the upcoming tour of the West Indies.

“I am really surprised and disappointed at the omission of Azhar and Sohail by the selectors,” Mohsin said on Friday while reacting to the Pakistan T20 and One-day squad for WI tour. “Inzamam-ul-Haq should have come up with solid reasons for not considering th two players.

“Sohail has develoed into a very good all-rounder and is good for all brands of cricket, so his axing was astonishing,” he remarked. “He (Sohail) is a very hard working bowler who has consistently performed during the tour of England as well in New Zealand and Australia,” the former head coach said.

Mohsin further said that Sohail’s top-class show in the recently concluded Pakistan Super League (PSL), where he finished as the leading bowler with 16 wickets, should have been enough to get hm selected in the team for the West Indies tour.

“Similarly, Azhar did really well with the bat and was most consistent in Tests besides doing well with the bat in the ODIs. I fail to understand his omission from the ODI team. Although I didn’t see him going to the Caribbeans as captain, but he deserved a place in the ODI squad and so did Asad Shafiq,” argued Mohsin.

He, however, expressed his delight over the selection of Ahmed Shahzad and said he personally felt that the dashing opener should never have been dropped from the team.

Legendary left-arm spinner Iqbal Qasim said it was nice to see the selection committee naming some newcomers like Fakhar Zaman, Shadab Khan, Usman Shinwari, Asif Zakir, Fahm Ashraf and Muhammad Asghar for the WI series.

“It is heartening to see the talented young players in the squad,” said the former spinner. “However, I feel that Azhar should have been inducted in the one-day team because he is a good player and ousting him like this does not seem fair.”

Iqbal added that although Pakistan had trounced West Indies in the T20 and ODI series in Dubai last year, things will be different in their own backyard.

Published in Dawn, March 18th, 2017