We are not ignoring the future – Iqbal Qasim

Despite facing a lot of criticism in recent times, Iqbal Qasim, the chief selector of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), is of the opinion that the national team is moving in the right direction in the shorter formats of the game.

According to a number of sporting analysts, Pakistan’s One Day International (ODI) team is over-aged, with the likes of Misbah-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi and Younis Khan at the twilight of their careers.

During the recently concluded ODI series in South Africa, the Green Shirts opted to play an experienced batting line-up in the presence of Misbah, Younis, Shoaib Malik and Imran Farhat.

Ironically, three of Pakistan’s most talented young batsmen, Nasir Jamshed, Umar Akmal and Asad Shafiq failed to find a place in the playing-11 in the last fixture at Benoni. There are a couple of other young players like Haris Sohail and Umar Amin who have been doing brilliantly in domestic cricket off-late.

With just a couple of years left in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, to be played in Australia and New Zealand, the cricket pundits believe that the Green Shirts must look to make a team for future.

Qasim claimed while talking to Pakpassion, “I’m happy with the progress we are making regarding the 2015 World Cup. There are areas of our cricket that needs improving. There are some concerns with the middle order and our fast bowlers, but we’ve got the nucleus of a strong one day team.”

The chief selector further added that there are a number of young cricketers who are developing at the international level, which are good signs for the future of Pakistan cricket.

“In addition we are seeing youngsters come through like Junaid Khan and Nasir Jamshed. Also the likes of Haris Sohail and Umar Amin have been part of our limited overs squads too. I feel we have a nice blend of youth and experience and over the course of the next couple of years I’m sure we’ll see some of the younger players establish themselves in the one day team in time for the World Cup,” he added.

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Posted by Yasir Hashmi on Apr 4 2013. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.