Pakistan cricketers ask national selectors to learn from India

Former Pakistan cricketers have called on the national selectors to show the same consistency as their Indian counterparts do while picking the national team. Ex-captain Salman Butt and discarded wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal opined that Indian selectors, compared to their Pakistani counterparts, show more consistency in giving chances to their players.

The duo also highlighted the fact that domestic cricket performances should be sole criteria for picking national teams. They opined that if players who regularly do well in domestic cricket are not given consistent chances in the international circuit to flourish, then Pakistan’s cricket growth will be affected.

Both the Test players said, in recent years there were many instances where players have been picked and dropped without getting proper chances at the international level. According to NDTV, Butt noted, “India shows more consistency in allowing their players to play top-level cricket.”

He also drew the analogy of big-hitting Indian batsman Rohit Sharma, “Rohit Sharma’s batting average was around 25 and 30 at one stage but the Indian selectors gave him consistent chances and today he has become a world-class performer.”

Butt, Akmal blame inconsistent pitches for Pakistan’s incompetence to produce quality batting

Another reason that Butt and Kamran feel the lack of sufficient quality players in the national squad is due to lack of proper pitches. Both the cricketers blamed the inconsistent nature of the pitches used in first-class matches for Pakistan’s incompetence to produce quality batting as India

Wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal said, “You need to have pitches in domestic cricket where batsmen can build their innings and stay for long. This is the only way to give them confidence and prepare them for international cricket. He noted that in the recently-concluded Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, the premier first-class cricket event in the country, there were at least 20 instances where teams were bowled out for less than 100 runs because of the pitches at different venues.

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