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Many people would dismiss Pakistan’s 5-0 whitewash against Zimbabwe as a victory achieved over a weak opposition that lacked quality. But ask Pakistan’s chief selector Salahuddin Ahmed and he will tell you a different story.

“It’s true that Zimbabwe are not among the world’s strongest teams but they are still a good side and beating them 5-0 was no cakewalk,” the former Test cricketer told ‘The News’ in an interview soon after Pakistan completed their clean sweep against the tourists with a seven-wicket triumph.

Salahuddin pointed out that not very long ago, Zimbabwe stunned the West Indies in a One-day International and also toppled Australia in a World Twenty20 championship shocker in South Africa.

For Salahuddin and other national cricket officials, the sound of victory became even sweeter because of the fact that they tried out a number of newcomers during the series and yielded the desired results in most cases.

Hard-hitting opener Nasir Jamshed was the find of the series while several other youngsters like Khurram Manzoor, another opener, all-rounder Kamran Hussain and left-arm pacer Wahab Riaz had impressive debuts during the series.

And now the chief selector is of the view that Pakistan have enough bench strength to field a team capable of beating world champions Australia in a home series pencilled in for March-April.

“Australia are the world’s best team, there is no doubt about that,” said Salahuddin. “But we are going to be ready for them,” he added.

His confidence stems from the fact that Pakistan are quite sure of getting back some of their top strike bowlers like Mohammad Asif, Umar Gul and even Shoaib Akhtar ahead of the series against Australia that will include three Tests, five One-day Internationals and a Twenty20 game.

“If these three bowlers are fit and in form, ours becomes one of the strongest pace attacks in the world,” he said. “And we are quite hopeful that they would be fully fit for the series against Australia,” he added.

Salahuddin said the introduction of young pacers like Wahab Riaz, Kamran Hussain and Abdur Rauf takes a lot of pressure off the shoulders of the main strike bowlers.

“If we have solid reserves, it gives us the luxury of resting some of our top guys every now and then and that reduces injury and burn-out risks,” he said.

But the chief selector conceded the fact that Pakistan remain without a potent spin attack. “We have Danish Kaneria and he certainly is very experienced. But we need more quality slow bowlers because that is one area that can really be exploited on our slow and turning tracks.”

Salahuddin said the selectors are keeping track of some promising spinners like leggie Yasir Shah, who is training under the experienced Intikhab Alam, a former Pakistan captain, at a specialised camp for spinners and wicketkeepers in Lahore.

“Yasir has the potential to become a world class bowler and we are hearing encouraging comments from Intikhab Alam about him,” said Salahuddin, who added that off-spinner Tahir Khan is also on the selectors’ radar.

Batting has been among Pakistan’s weaknesses in recent times and one of the main causes for their defeats against South Africa and India last year. But Salahuddin is confident that his batsmen will deliver the goods against Australia.

“There shouldn’t be any doubt about the fact that Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf are currently among the world’s best batsmen,” he said. “And then Misbah-ul-Haq is rapidly growing in stature and gives us a reliable middle-order,” he added.

But for Salahuddin and company, finding a solid pair of openers, especially for the Tests remains a big challenge. “Openers have been giving us problems for quite some time but we are working on it,” he said.

The selectors have prepared a list of four opening batsmen and are trying to form two different combinations for the one-dayers and Tests.

They have the experienced Salman Butt and newcomers Nasir Jamshed, Khurram Manzoor and Khalid Latif.

Three of them got their first taste of international cricket during the Zimbabwe series but Salahuddin is confident that they can cement their places in the national teams for Tests and ODIs.

“We are thinking about giving different roles to different kind of batsmen. I mean look at Nasir Jamshed. He is an exciting talent but we believe that Khalid Latif has a better technique and temperament than him and could be more suitable as an opener for Tests. Nasir seems more suited to one-dayers,” the chief selector said.

Though Salahuddin is keeping his options open about the final squad for the series against Australia, it seems that the extended combination for that crunch assignment could be like this: Salman Butt, Nasir Jamshed, Khalid Latif, Khurram Manzoor (opening batsmen), Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Misbah-ul-Haq (middle-order), Shoaib Malik (captain), Shahid Afridi, Fawad Alam (all-rounders), Kamran Akmal (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Asif, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul (subject to fitness), Danish Kaneria and Yasir Shah (bowlers).

Young stumper Sarfraz Ahmed would remain with the team as a reserve as the selectors believe he is a natural wicketkeeper and will be an asset for Pakistan in the long run.

Source:Cricket News