Soon after the announcement of Pakistan T20 World Cup cricket team by national men’s cricket team chief selector Muhammad Wasim, the selection was the talk of the town. The major issue discussed about the team selection was the decision to drop senior players like Shoaib Malik, Wahab Riaz, Sarfraz Ahmad and Sharjeel Khan and the inclusion of Azam Khan, inconsistent Asif Ali and inexperienced Khushdil Shah.Moreover, opening batsman Fakhar Zaman, outstanding leg spinner Usman Qadir and brilliant fast bowler Shahnawaz Dahani were also ignored in the 15-member squad yet they managed to make place in the travelling reserves. If anyone of them, especially Usman or Dahani, get a chance, they will surely make their presence felt through their outstanding performances.

The squad is not a balanced one. It lacks right players for the right spots. It lacks professional and consistent openers, while middle order and all-rounder departments also need fully experienced and skilled ones who may help the side win crucial matches. In the bowling department, Dhani is a much better choice than Haris Rauf, who always remains very expensive. He has failed to give extraordinary results for the team whenever he was given chances.

Usman can also prove a trump card for the team, if he is preferred over Shadab. Both Usman and Dahani need proper and consistent chances to cement their place in the national team. They can help the team win important matches on any given day.

With such a poor selection, even a domestic level coach can give up his hope for his team to win an event and with such low-profile coaches, it will be tough for Pakistan to win the mega cricketing T20 event.

Misbah and Waqar took a wise decision to step down, so they don’t have to own the pathetic results the team is going to produce in the T20 World Cup in the UAE. It was mainly the poor selection of the team which compelled both the coaches to quit their roles. Indeed, they have saved their skins very timely, and after the T20 World Cup, they will be ready to take such slots and responsibilities once again with clean chits in their hands and the burden of defeats will be put on the shoulders of either new or interim coaches.

Still there is time for Pakistan to overcome their mistakes and bring in right players in the World Cup squad as they have a chance to make changes in the national team announced for the World Cup before October 10. Soon after taking over as PCB Chairman, Ramiz Raja is expected to make wholesale changes in the officials of the board and then he will also look into the selection of the national team for the T20 World Cup. It can be expected that the deserving top-performing players will succeed in earning places in the 15-member squad.