Aaqib Javed, the Pakistan Cricket Board’s director of high performance, has launched a remarkable attack on opening batter Imam-ul-Haq, criticising him for not batting in either innings of the Lord’s Test and promising to “take action” against him.
In an interview with Pakistan broadcast network Geo, Aaqib said he is “deeply disappointed” in the player, and that Imam would have to face an inquiry for his decision, which was down to a low-grade calf tear.
“The Imam injury is a big question mark, and a deep disappointment,” Aaqib said. “Players in the past used to get injuries, but they used to put on casts and still tried [to play]. 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.”
Imam, who was one of seven players the PCB called back home after Pakistan’s humbling defeat in the second Test against England at Lord’s, was widely critiqued for not batting in the Test. Minutes before the start of the second day’s play, the PCB put out a statement saying he had suffered a tear in his left calf, and that his involvement in the remainder of the Test would be subject to medical opinion. After no involvement in the Test for the next two days, Imam emerged to warm-up with the rest of the side on the fourth morning. Stuart Broad, on broadcast at the time, was heavily critical, calling it “all for show”, with David Warner also pouring scorn in a social media post.
But Imam was not the only player sent packing. Six others accompanied him, as did Pakistan’s head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and bowling coach Umar Gul, in a sweeping overhaul. Aaqib explained why such drastic action had been taken, saying the PCB wanted to send a message to the recalled players, while blaming the team management for what he viewed was flawed team selection.
“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 [the management] 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 [Babar Azam] and coach and asked them to put Ubaid in because the other bowlers [Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Ali and Khurram Shahzad] are all similarly paced.
“The message we’re sending to the recalled players is that you have to raise your game on important tours and compete, and we should be able to see some effort”
Aaqib Javed
“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. I understand dropping [Salman] Agha, who’s out of form, but you should have played Ghazi Ghori instead of [Mohammad] Rizwan [as the wicketkeeper]. Someone had to take action. The world is laughing at us because we can’t even compete. The message we’re sending to the recalled players is that you have to raise your game on important tours and compete, and we should be able to see some effort.”
However, the wider cricketing public’s ire has not been limited to individual selections. Aaqib has himself been in his post for two years, a time that has seen a number of coaches come and go, including Jason Gillespie and Gary Kirsten. He briefly took on a largely ill-fated coaching role in addition to his selection and high-performance duties, and was part of the leadership group that appointed Sarfaraz three months ago, only to send him packing after six Tests on the job. Misbah-ul-Haq, also part of the PCB in various capacities, has resigned from the selection panel following Pakistan’s squad reshuffle.
Aaqib, however, made it clear that he had no intention of following Misbah out of the door, and sought to put distance between the selection of the original travelling group, and their underwhelming subsequent performance and the latest, dramatic developments.
“When we select the team as coach or captain and make a squad, we’re responsible for that squad. But once they go on tour, we cannot do anything about the match-to-match combination,” Aaqib said. “No one doubted these players’ performances when selected. But when players are completely out of form and you’re not competing at all, then we needed to make a decision. When you’re not making the right decisions despite getting messages conveyed to you to play the right combination [that’s a problem]. Your captain, head coach and management have some responsibilities.”
Aaqib praised the incoming Test head coach Mike Hesson, who is the white-ball coach of the side, saying he would have his full support, but all-but accepted that the wholesale changes Pakistan had made would not be enough for victory in the third Test. To him, it was a symbolic measure to showcase that there was still talent available in Pakistan cricket.
“One man doesn’t run a team. A coach and captain run the team concurrently. Mike Hesson has taken responsibility, and we’ll try and support him in every way,” Aaqib said. “Let’s see how Babar and Mike work together. It’s difficult to see us getting a result in one match, but people should see we still have talent.”
The third Test begins on September 9 at Edgbaston.
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