PCB director of high performance Aaqib Javed has slammed Imam-ul-Haq after the left-hander decided not to bat in the Lord’s Test following his calf injury. Javed said the left-hander should have at least tried and fought for the team.
Pakistan suffered a 194-run loss in the second Test and Imam was widely criticised by the experts after he decided not to show any stomach for a fight.
After the loss, head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and bowling coach Umar Gul were also removed from their roles. Mike Hesson, Pakistan’s white-ball coach, has been given charge of the Test side ahead of the third and final match at Edgbaston.
“The Imam injury is a big question mark, and a deep disappointment,” Aaqib said on Geo News. “Players in the past used to get injuries, but they used to put on casts and still tried. We’ll take action against this. How is it possible that a pulled muscle ruled you out of batting in both innings? He should have tried and fought. He’ll have to face an inquiry; I can’t say he faked it, but a muscle pull like that cannot stop you from batting altogether.”
Javed added that Pakistan have not shown any fight in the two Test matches against England as they have been thoroughly dominated by the hosts.
“Two Test matches have come and gone, and the team has not competed in any way,” Aaqib said. “There’s one Test still to go. They had a pace allrounder available, a second wicketkeeper, a fast bowler in Ubaid Shah. But those decisions were not being made. I spoke to the captain and coach and asked them to put Ubaid in because the other bowlers are all similarly paced.”
Javed reckons Pakistan should have selected an all-rounder and they should have picked Ghazi Ghori in place of Rizwan.
“No batter in our top seven bowls. We should have included an allrounder, but most importantly, get in Ubaid Shah, who bowls close to 140kph. One fast bowler changes the composition of your attack,” he said. “I understand dropping Agha, who’s out of form, but you should have played Ghazi Ghori instead of Rizwan. Someone had to take action. The world is laughing at us because we can’t even compete.”
The third and final Test between England and Pakistan will be played at Edgbaston, Birmingham, from September 9 onwards.
