South Africa needed just 148 runs to win the first of two Tests against Pakistan, stunned by some classy swing from Mohammad Abbas and bowling by Sam. The medium fast bowler took 6 wickets for 56 runs and almost single-handedly won the match for Pakistan. Unfortunately, he had little support from his teammates, which resulted in his defeat in the first Test against South Africa. I would be happy to know why a bowler of Abbas’s class has been out of the team for the last two years despite his outstanding performance. In my view he is a much better bowling option than Shaheen Afridi or Naseem Shah who are currently bowling below par.
Finally, Shaun Masood needs to improve his batting to make his place in the team and his captaincy needs to be more imaginative. For example, in the recently concluded Test match against South Africa, it was a mistake to bring in Amir Jamal in the closing overs. He would have done better by bringing in one of the spinners. This also raises the question why none of our key spinners have been included in the team.
Kamal Hayat
Lahore