Abdul Qadir feels Pakistan cricket can soon be in shambles due to Mickey Arthur

Even though the Pakistan Cricket Team has made it to the semi-finals of the ICC Champions Trophy 2017, there still remains a debate on team selection, and on why the coach of the team Micky Arthur was against the selection of two very important players for the tournament. In the process, former leg-spinner, Abdul Qadir warned that Pakistan can face more problems in the future if they keep giving the head coach complete control of team matters.

He also went on to criticise Inzamam-ul-Haq, the chief selector, as he believes Inzi becomes powerless in front of the coach which is something that should not happen. The selection of Mohammad Aamir, who took a fifer in a Test match recently after almost a year and a half has been debated. Also, Qadir argued that Sohail Khan, who twice took fifers in the Test series in England, should not have been ignored for the Champions Trophy.

“I don’t know who is responsible for giving this foreign coach so much power that he has decided to wreck the careers of Sohail Khan and Umar Akmal,” Qadir said in an interview. “But I am really also very disappointed with the chief selector, Inzamam-ul-Haq who appears powerless in front of the coach,” he added.

Poor treatment meted out to Umar 

The former chief selector also said that if Arthur had any issues with the fitness of Sohail and Umar, he could have addressed it and even sorted it out rather than just dropping them since they deserved to be in the team. “Less deserving players are in the team. The way Umar was treated and sent back from England is something the cricket board should investigate not just give Mickey Arthur a free hand to do what he wants,” he further said.

He opined that Pakistan’s batting has been unsteady in the tournament and that pairing Umar with captain Sarfraz Ahmed down the order can provide some firepower to the batting which is struggling. Pakistan takes on England today in the first semi-final at Cardiff.