Take a look at the following scenario:
A humiliating tour of Australia followed by stepping down of the Chief selector; Indefinite Life-bans on several star players along with heavy fine on others; few key players out of the side due to injuries and a much speculated player power in the team. This was the time when Mohsin Hassan Khan took over the charge as a Chief Selector, with a tough task of choosing a team from a very limited pool of individuals.
Mohsin Khan selected the team for T20 World Championship in Carribean, Asia Cup and the England tour. Induction of new players to replace the old ones in order to rebuild a team was bound to take some time in order to make any impact. As the young unit was coming in terms with international level, another jolt of 'spot fixing' came out on the scene which resulted in the ban of 3 integral members of the squad to make it further worse for Mohsin khan. These were the initial 6 to 7 months of his tenure; the worst possible.
Today, almost a year later, there has been a complete turn around, a miraculous one. The Test side of Pakistan has never been this stable and consistent in all those past years. The One day squad has depth and the bench strength is heartening to see. To build and erect a shattered team on its feet in just about a year's time is a remarkable achievement. Let's take a closer look at Mohsin Khan's tenure as a chief selector.
The analysis will be according to the Test match side as this format of the game requires more stability than the limited overs cricket- in which teams can afford to experiment with their combinations every now and then.
Pakistan Team was struggling to make an impact as a solid Test playing country with dismal performances in Sri Lanka and Australia while managing a drawn series in New Zealand. After disciplinary actions were taken on several big names like Younis and Yousuf, Mohsin Khan faced a challange to select an inexperienced team for the difficult tour of England in 2010, which included 6 Tests in total. This was the first time Azhar Ali, Umar Amin, Zulqarnain Haider and Wahab Riaz were selected in the Test side. As expected, the team combination could not settle during the tour, because the team was still in a rebuilding phase with number of its key players out of the side for diverse reasons. To put salt on the wound, first Afridi and then Salman Butt had to leave the captaincy after the tour. Azhar Ali and Wahab Riaz justified their selection though.
South African series in UAE was a turning point in revival of Pakistan's test position. A shocking appointment of Misbah as a captain, rebirth of Younis as a player and a promising start to Azhar Ali's career suddenly provided the middle order with a much needed stability. Asad Shafiq's debut performance was highly encouraging. But the most important selection for this tour were the openers; Hafeez and Taufeeq. Both earned their places through strong domestic performances and for some of you, who have been following Pakistan's test cricket for a long time, it will be a surprise to see that these two have opened together consecutively in last 8 Test matches of Pakistan, which has always been a rarity in unstable batting line up.
The Team since than has more or less been the same along with being consistent. They had a drawn Series against South Africa and West Indies while a series win over New Zealand and Zimbabwe. Top 5 batsman have a guaranteed place in the side which include Toufeeq, Hafeez, Azhar, Younis and Misbah, due to their strong consistent performances. Number 6 has been closely fought by two young talents, Umar Akmal and Asad Shafiq, so this place is relatively open to any one of them along with Shoaib Malik to a lesser extent. Adnan Akmal is yet to prove his talent with bat but his glove-work has been better than the older Akmal for sure. He was also selected by Mohsin Khan for the South African series. Bowling department, after many experimentations, have a bunch of names which were scarce when Mohsin Khan took over. With a bowler like Wahab Riaz struggling to find his way in the playing eleven, the fast bowling department has a certain depth. Junaid and Cheema have been a promising finds along with Tanvir Ahmad in reserve. Umar Gul, being the spearhead, is leading the bowling attack with responisibility. Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman fill the shoes of spinners. Pakistan's Test side has never looked this settled.
Who would have imagined to see Pakistan cricket team in its current balanced outfit after the miserable tours of Australia and England last year? The credit goes to Mohsin Khan for transforming a shattered team into a stable unit. May be I am going too far but Mohsin Khan, according to me, has been the most successful Chief Selector Pakistan has witnessed in the last few years.
A humiliating tour of Australia followed by stepping down of the Chief selector; Indefinite Life-bans on several star players along with heavy fine on others; few key players out of the side due to injuries and a much speculated player power in the team. This was the time when Mohsin Hassan Khan took over the charge as a Chief Selector, with a tough task of choosing a team from a very limited pool of individuals.
Mohsin Khan selected the team for T20 World Championship in Carribean, Asia Cup and the England tour. Induction of new players to replace the old ones in order to rebuild a team was bound to take some time in order to make any impact. As the young unit was coming in terms with international level, another jolt of 'spot fixing' came out on the scene which resulted in the ban of 3 integral members of the squad to make it further worse for Mohsin khan. These were the initial 6 to 7 months of his tenure; the worst possible.
Today, almost a year later, there has been a complete turn around, a miraculous one. The Test side of Pakistan has never been this stable and consistent in all those past years. The One day squad has depth and the bench strength is heartening to see. To build and erect a shattered team on its feet in just about a year's time is a remarkable achievement. Let's take a closer look at Mohsin Khan's tenure as a chief selector.
The analysis will be according to the Test match side as this format of the game requires more stability than the limited overs cricket- in which teams can afford to experiment with their combinations every now and then.
Pakistan Team was struggling to make an impact as a solid Test playing country with dismal performances in Sri Lanka and Australia while managing a drawn series in New Zealand. After disciplinary actions were taken on several big names like Younis and Yousuf, Mohsin Khan faced a challange to select an inexperienced team for the difficult tour of England in 2010, which included 6 Tests in total. This was the first time Azhar Ali, Umar Amin, Zulqarnain Haider and Wahab Riaz were selected in the Test side. As expected, the team combination could not settle during the tour, because the team was still in a rebuilding phase with number of its key players out of the side for diverse reasons. To put salt on the wound, first Afridi and then Salman Butt had to leave the captaincy after the tour. Azhar Ali and Wahab Riaz justified their selection though.
South African series in UAE was a turning point in revival of Pakistan's test position. A shocking appointment of Misbah as a captain, rebirth of Younis as a player and a promising start to Azhar Ali's career suddenly provided the middle order with a much needed stability. Asad Shafiq's debut performance was highly encouraging. But the most important selection for this tour were the openers; Hafeez and Taufeeq. Both earned their places through strong domestic performances and for some of you, who have been following Pakistan's test cricket for a long time, it will be a surprise to see that these two have opened together consecutively in last 8 Test matches of Pakistan, which has always been a rarity in unstable batting line up.
The Team since than has more or less been the same along with being consistent. They had a drawn Series against South Africa and West Indies while a series win over New Zealand and Zimbabwe. Top 5 batsman have a guaranteed place in the side which include Toufeeq, Hafeez, Azhar, Younis and Misbah, due to their strong consistent performances. Number 6 has been closely fought by two young talents, Umar Akmal and Asad Shafiq, so this place is relatively open to any one of them along with Shoaib Malik to a lesser extent. Adnan Akmal is yet to prove his talent with bat but his glove-work has been better than the older Akmal for sure. He was also selected by Mohsin Khan for the South African series. Bowling department, after many experimentations, have a bunch of names which were scarce when Mohsin Khan took over. With a bowler like Wahab Riaz struggling to find his way in the playing eleven, the fast bowling department has a certain depth. Junaid and Cheema have been a promising finds along with Tanvir Ahmad in reserve. Umar Gul, being the spearhead, is leading the bowling attack with responisibility. Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman fill the shoes of spinners. Pakistan's Test side has never looked this settled.
Who would have imagined to see Pakistan cricket team in its current balanced outfit after the miserable tours of Australia and England last year? The credit goes to Mohsin Khan for transforming a shattered team into a stable unit. May be I am going too far but Mohsin Khan, according to me, has been the most successful Chief Selector Pakistan has witnessed in the last few years.
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