Ramiz Raja supports Inzamam over Fawad Alam issue

Voicing his support for chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq over his decision to drop batsman Fawad Alam from upcoming England and Ireland tour, former Pakistan cricket captain turned commentator Ramiz Raja has said he would have done the same as well.

Giving his reasoning, Ramiz said that Fawad is not sound enough technique wise, whereas he didn’t have experience at the Pakistan Super League (PSL), which weakens his case for the selection.

“If I had been the chief selector, I too would not selected Alam for the England tour due to his weak technique,” said Raja, in a video message on social media.

“Secondly, Fawad is not in the current running, because nowadays the player, who performs in PSL, is young and has runs in the First Class cricket is favored by the selection committee,” he added.

“Thirdly, there are many players who get their chance later, for example Misbah ul Haq, Agha Zahid Mansoor Akhtar, internationally we have Mike Hussey from Australia who got his chance after seven years of First Class cricket and Simon Katich another Australian.”

Ramiz dismissed the speculations that Inzamam didn’t select Fawad in order to place his nephew Imam-ul-Haq in the squad.

“The perception that Inzamam intentionally omitted Fawad and selected Imam is incorrect, because Inzamam is not such a person and is not such a weak selector as well. Inzamam is a genuine selector. If a batsman plays two balls in the net, he gets the idea if the player is for the long run or not.”

Pakistan, under the leadership of skipper Sarfraz Ahmed, will play against Ireland, which will be their first-ever Test against Pakistan from May 11 to May 15 in Dublin. Pakistan will then play two Tests against England at Lord’s from May 24 to May 28 and Headingley from June 1 to 5.