LAHORE, May 1: Shafqat Rana, a member of the national selection committee, said the selectors’ decision to place themselves as umpires in the first practice game on Tuesday helped them a lot observe closely the weak areas of the batsmen and bowlers.

Talking to reporters after performing his duties as umpire with chief selector Salahuddin Ahmed and another member Salim Jaffar in the first practice match during the ongoing national camp here, Shafqat said as the selectors while acting as umpires were standing close to the players, their attitude and body language were much more improved, adding there was seriousness too.

Shafqat, who stood as an umpire for 39 overs under scorching heat, admitted several batsmen failed to click as the match was a low-scoring one.

He noted Pakistan faced the same problem with the batsmen who struggled in the West Indies, resulting in their team’s shocking exit from the World Cup.

Shafqat stated the Gaddafi Stadium pitch was batting-friendly, emphasising the batsmen should have played entertaining cricket (in the first practice game).

However, he said the selectors were noticing the weak points of each and every player and would make the selection after considering those points.

He revealed the selection committee had decided to remain present at the training camp, from start to the end, in future as well and to do umpiring in all trial matches.

He said though there was a rest day on Wednesday, 12 players of the Pakistan Academy team would appear in the fitness test to join the training camp.

The Pakistan Academy team, after winning the triangular one-day tournament in Bangladesh recently, reached Karachi on Tuesday.