PCB CHIEF SELECTOR MOHSIN KHAN PRAISES TEAM PERFORMANCE IN WEST INDIES

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief selector, Mohsin Khan, has praised the way the national team is performing during its ongoing tour to West Indies.

After 2 matches, the Men in Green are leading the series 2-0 and look set to clinch the five-match One Day International (ODI) series by winning the third one on April 28, 2011.

The former cricketer said that Pakistan has been performing exceptionally well in the ongoing West Indies tour.

He said that Pakistan has shown great confidence and momentum, even after their defeat in the semi-final of the recently concluded ICC World Cup 2011. He is hopeful that the entire team will play consistently in the remainder of the series.

While addressing the media, Mohsin stated, “It is great pleasure to see that the team played the first two ODIs with a game-plan, showing improvement in batting, bowling and fielding departments”.

The PCB Chief Selector is of the view that the current Windies series has given a platform to the young players to prove themselves in the field of cricket. It will also benefit them in their future career, he added.

While talking about the players, Mohsin appreciated the young middle-order batsman, Asad Shafiq, and opening batsman, Ahmad Shehzad, for their performances in the first two One Day Internationals (ODI).

Mohsin exclaimed, “Asad is showing improvement every passing day, as far as maturity is concerned, and Ahmed, after his failure in the World Cup, got another chance, and his century in the second ODI was a responsible knock. He will be very useful for the team if he continues his good performance”.

Former batsman also praised senior players such as captain, Shahid Afridi, vice captain Misbah ul Haq and opener, Mohammad Hafeez, for their performances in the series. He hoped that the same work would continue until the end.

Meanwhile, Mohsin also praised the spinners of the team and said they were doing a fantastic job on the slow wickets of West Indies.

The third and fourth matches of the series will be played on April 28 and May 2 at the Kensington Oval in Barbados. The last and final match of the series will be played on May 5 at the Guyana National Stadium.

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PAKISTAN CHIEF SELECTOR MOHSIN KHAN CLAIMS TO BE THE FIRST ONE TO RECOGNISE YOUNG TALENT

The Pakistan Cricket Board selection committee chief, Mohsin Khan on Thursday claimed to be the first-ever chief selector to give opportunities to young talent and select a new-look national team.

The former Pakistan batsman said that the former PCB selectors made claims about injecting fresh blood in the side but failed to do so properly.

“I think the present selection committee is the first one to properly work on a plan to blood new players and build a new team,” said Mohsin while talking to media reporters. “We have already taken this bold step of resting some senior players and sending some new players to the West Indies with the consultation of the captain and coach.”

The 56-year-old former batsman expressed satisfaction over the performance of youngsters in the ongoing tour of West Indies. He however, urged the players to learn how to build innings after getting starts stressing that 30s and 40s are not enough to keep a batsman going.

“I have played Test cricket and I know that if one wants to play cricket for a long time, 30s and 40s are not enough to keep you going. These new players need to learn to convert good starts into big scores,” insisted the former Test opener.

He asked the youngsters to get inspiration from legendary Pakistan batsmen like Javed Miandad, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Yousuf and learn how they used to convert good starts into big scores.

The selection committee chairman also dismissed the perception that he is a yes man to the PCB. He said that Pakistan were not the only country to have the system of paid selectors. He refused to believe that the selection decisions were not taken on merit. Mohsin further explained that all the teams had to be approved by the Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board.

Mohsin said he himself had struggled hard to earn a place in the national team and as a selection committee chief, he would never think of ignoring merit. He said that he always tried to reward the potential performers.

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Chris Gayle and West Indies Cricket Board row rages on

West Indies Cricket Board chief, Ernest Hilaire, has said that the Board made every possible attempt to talk to opener Chris Gayle and convince him to play for the side in the series against Pakistan.

Hilaire made the remarks after Gayle recently said that the WICB did not talk to him before making their decision.

Currently Gayle is playing for the Indian Premier (IPL) League’s franchise Royal Challenger Bangalore (RCB), owned by one of the most renowned Indian businessman in the world, Vijay Mallya.

Gayle has been playing well in the team and has proved a match-winner for the team. However, the West Indies cricket team has lost the first two matches of their five-match series against Pakistan. This is the reason Hilaire wants Gayle to perform in the Pakistan tour, to give success to the Windies.

Hilaire stated, “We can dispel all that Chris Gayle said by releasing the letters and emails”. He also said, “You communicate with a player, you ask for his opinions, you ask for him to account on certain statements he made, you ask him what’s his position on certain things and you expect to be treated with a certain degree of confidence.”

Gayle has been under scrutiny for a long time, as he has a history of tiffs and disputes with the West Indies Cricket Board. However, the behaviour of the board towards its players is also very inconsiderate.

Nevertheless, Gayle had to speak up, not only \on his own behalf but also for other players.

Chris Gayle is an outstanding batsmen on the West Indies cricket team. He started his One Day International (ODI) career in 1999 against India in Toronto. He has been playing exceptionally well in the team but was unable to lift his teams fortunes in the ICC World Cup 2011. Gayle has played a total of 228 One Dayers, in which he has scored 8087 runs at an average of 39.06. The Windies’ player has so far scored 19 centuries and 43 half centuries. Gayle has struck 946 fours and 169 sixes in his 228 ODIs. This batting all-rounder is also known for his balling style and is known off-spin. The Jamaican player has taken 156 wickets at an average of 35.08.

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