Misbah defends decision to pick Usman over Zahid

Karachi: Pakistan cricket Head Coach and former Chief Selector Misbah ul Haq has opened up about his decision to prefer Usman Qadir over Zahid Mehmood in Pakistan team and termed the former a better variable bowler than the latter.

Misbah, who until last month was working in dual role of head-coach plus chief selector – was under criticism for ignoring Zahid Mehmood despite his remarkable performance in domestic cricket.

“You can only play in a team and can take 15 or 16 in a touring squad, you just can’t pick all the domestic performers for national team,” Misbah told Ramiz Raja in an interview shared by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

The 46-year-old stepped down from the role of Chief Selector but explained his decision of choosing Usman over Zahid.

“Zahid and Usman’s performances were not very different from each other. We had invested on Usman as he was coming through a proper channel; I believe he has more variation than Zahid,” he said.

“Zahid in terms of control is better but in terms of spin, bounce, googly, flippers, leg break, I think Usman is a better option. That’s why we played him. We could have picked only one of them,” Misbah added.

It is worth mentioning that Zahid has 47 Twenty20 wickets in 34 games and 137 first class wickets in 47 games as compared to Usman’s 41 in 38 T20s and 13 in 11 first class games, respectively.

The former cricketer said that it is not possible to replace the players with every performer of domestic cricket.

“We are already playing Haider Ali, we have picked Abdullah Shafique then could we pick Sohaib Maqsood? One needs to understand that it is not easy to make changes to accommodate all,” he said.

In regards to modern day cricket, Misbah said that it is important to have players who can accelerate the scoreboard in white-ball cricket and emphasized on need of power hitters in lower middle order. He suggested that players like Abdul Razzaq and Shahid Afridi can be used to guide the player on how to execute power hitting.

“We need power hitters, at 5, 6 7 who should have a range to score runs quickly. Along with power hitting, a player must also know how to play unconventional shots like switch hits, scoop shots and other to grab some quick runs,” the head coach said.

While Misbah thought Azam Khan tick some of those boxes, he was not satisfied with the fitness level of the player.

“We have an example of Azam Khan, he is immensely talented player, a wicket keeper, a white-ball player that Pakistan needs but his fitness is not in accordance with international standards, same is the case with Sharjeel Khan,” he said.

The former player, therefore, thought that it is important to have domestic fitness policy aligned with international fitness standards so that once a player is picked for international cricket; he has already achieved the required fitness level.

The head coach confirmed that the upcoming T20 World Cup is Pakistan’s next big assignment and the New Zealand tour would give Pakistani players an opportunity to assess themselves.

“We need to play our band of cricket with some improvement in it. We did play well in England with white-ball cricket, a little improvement and I would say we are there as far as preparation for T20 World Cup is concerned. We have an exciting group of cricketers who are ready to take the challenge,” he added. 

Read: Pak vs NZ: Match timing and schedule for 1st, 2nd, 3rd T20I

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