LAHORE: The Director Academies, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Mudassar Nazar has termed fast-bowler Tabish Khan to be ‘very unlucky’ not to get selected in the Pakistan team despite his consistently good performances at the domestic circuit.

Talking to this correspondent, during a formal chat at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) here, the former Test all-rounder was of the opinion that sometimes good players do miss out because of lack of openings in the final combination.

“In the past, a number of wicketkeepers missed out due to the presence of Wasim Bari who was the number one choice. The same happened with Misbah-ul-Haq early on in his career that he could not make the national team because of established players in the line-up,” said Mudassar. “The same thing has happened in Tabish’s case.”

Tabish Khan, the right-arm pacer, is a formidable name in domestic cricket with as many as 552 scalps to his name in 122 first-class games. Tabish, 34, was summoned to the two-day camp for bowlers but failed to make the Australia-bound Test and T20I squads.

“A team has eleven slots so at times a deserving candidate, too, has to sit out. This is just unfortunate,” Mudassar added

The director academies also defended the new domestic structure, hoping that it would yield desired results in 3-4 years.

“First of all Let me clear one thing that players don’t come through departments. Departments pick talented players coming through the (regional) system. Yes, players will suffer financially but at the end of the day quality should not be compromised for quantity,” he observed.

“This decision — of six regional teams — will have an effect in 3-4 years. In my opinion, it is a good decision, resulting in competitive matches. Batsmen dominated in the beginning of the first-class season but now bowlers are striking back as well. I am

hopeful of heartening results,” the ex-opening batsman concluded.

Published in Dawn, October 24th, 2019