LAHORE - Chief selector Inzamamul Haq Sunday said that fast bowler Rahat Ali was not selected for the West Indies tour due to fitness issues.
Speaking at a press conference, the chief selector said: “After Australia tour, Rahat Ali didn’t play any cricket. He was not able to bowl well, undoubtedly he is a good bowler when in rhythm,” he added, “Micky Aurthur couldn’t see what we saw in his bowling.” He also said that Rahat Ali was picked for the Pakistan Cup by Punjab team but he has to withdrew from the event due to the same injury issues. “Rahat is a very good bowler and he remains in our future planning,” said the chief selector.
Inzamam also defended the below-par performances of the Pakistan openers Ahmad Shahzad and Kamran Akmal in the recently concluded limited over series’ in the West Indies. He said though both did not give the performance as per expectations, however, the senior players must be given trust by the selectors.
He said Kamran gave tremendous and consistent performance in domestic season but playing international cricket after a long time is not easy for any player. He hoped that he would come good in future and reposed his confidence in his abilities.
Inzamam said they wanted to give equal and proper opportunities to everyone and only that player would remain in the team who would perform well. He also defended sloppy fielding of the wicket-keeping batsman saying he did not have any previous exposure of fielding and hoped he would settle down soon.
“They are good players, if they have not yet played according to our expectations, they may give their performances in next coming matches. Ahmed Shahzad have joined the team after a long time so there is obviously pressure on him. We should give our trust to the players who we have selected.”
About bowlers below par performances, Inzamam said they wanted to give proper time to players to come good. “We will find and send the replacement of every player if demanded by the team management but we also have to stay focused on the upcoming task that is the ICC Champions Trophy.”
Inzamam said the selectors wanted to give players confidence ahead of the mega event and hoped that Pakistan bowlers would come into the rhythm.
