JEDDAH, 22 November 2003 — Pakistan Cricket Board Chief Executive Rameez Raja, chairman of selectors Aamir Sohail and coach Javed Miandad are playing fast and loose with Pakistan’s cricket, according to a former chairman of the national selection committee.
Salahuddin Ahmed, popularly known as Sallu, leveled the charge during an exclusive interview with Arab News yesterday.
“If these three are allowed to continue in this vein, cricket in Pakistan will suffer irreparable damage,” said Sallu, who is here to perform Umrah and pray at the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah.
Referring to the recent internecine squabble involving Miandad and Sohail, during which they aired their dirty linen in a media war of words, Sallu said: “If these two cannot show self-restraint, how can they instil discipline in the cricketers?”
However, Sallu defended the selection committee chairman and said Sohail was not obliged to consult anybody except the members of his panel while picking a squad. “If he does speak to the coach and captain to ask their view, it is a goodwill gesture on his part,” he added.
Sallu was especially critical of Miandad. “He is now siding with captain Inzamam ul-Haq and the players because otherwise his job will be in danger. He claims to be working for the game, but he forgets that he is being paid a hefty one million rupees per month for his services by the PCB,” he said.
Sallu said Miandad was forever espousing the cause of his relatives in the national selection. “In the past it was his brother and now it is his nephew,” Sallu added.
Miandad claimed that new players were being tried out as part of a rebuilding process, he said, but except for one or two players, all those who played against Bangladesh and South Africa were experienced players.
Sallu said that despite holding important senior positions, Rameez and Sohail were continuing to work as TV commentators. “How can you combine those two jobs? It looks strange if you criticize a player on TV whom you yourself selected for the squad,” he said.
Sallu said the darkest chapter in Pakistan cricket was written yesterday, when against all norms Junaid Zia — who was not even in the list of 23 probables — was chosen for the one-day series against New Zealand.
“This is ultimate in nepotism. Junaid is PCB Chairman Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Tauqir Zia’s son. He deserved to be chosen in the original list of 22. But once he was omitted, how does he suddenly find a place in the final 15?” Sallu asked.
When told that Junaid has been performing well, Sallu said: “So have Majid Khan’s son Bazid Khan and Faisal Iqbal. They should also have been selected. Also, if the selectors are rebuilding the team, how do they justify the recall of Salim Elahi?”
Sallu welcomed the choice of Shahid Afridi as Pakistan A team skipper for the tri-series in India. “Afridi deserves to be in the senior team. So do Younis Khan, Saqlain Mushtaq and Imran Nazir. Even Rashid Latif got a raw deal,” he added.
Sallu said the golden period for Pakistan cricket was when Khaled Mahmoud headed the Pakistan board. “As things stand today, I am not very optimistic about the game’s future in the country,” he concluded.
