Imamul Haq should have been dropped for Bangladesh Test: Rashid Latif

Pakistan’s former wicketkeeper-batsman Rashid Latif, in a Youtube video on Saturday, claimed that opener Imamul Haq should have been dropped from the national squad for the upcoming Test series against Bangladesh instead of left-arm spinner Kashif Bhatti.

The 51-year-old also claimed that leg-spinner Yasir Shah could have been dropped if the plan was for all-rounder Bilal Asif to feature in the playing XI against Bangladesh.

“When you make a replacement, you have to ask if they will make their way in the playing XI. They might opt for a green pitch so that they can utilise the fast-bowlers. They should have dropped Yasir Shah if they intended on playing Bilal Asif instead of him in the match. Bilal’s action seems a bit suspect but he has been checked by the labs and his action is perfect. Kashif Bhatti should have been retained. Imamul Haq should have made way for Bilal Asif,” Latif said.

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Latif believed that even though the team management speaks about continuity, their actions and selections suggest otherwise.

“We have no problems with anyone whether it is Kashif Bhatti or Bilal Asif. But the problem is that they [management] themselves claimed that they will go for continuation before the series against Sri Lanka. You kept Imamul Haq and you kept Imran Khan Sr using this logic. But when we talk about the upcoming Test match against Bangladesh, if you didn’t include Kashif Bhatti than his replacement is automatically someone like Nauman Ali or Zafar Gohar,” he said.

The former wicketkeeper-batsman suggested that the current policies were akin to the old days when players used to get selected based on solitary performances that were televised on television rather than sustained efforts.

“If you look at their old statements, when we said Nauman Ali should be in the team they said that he has only performed for one year whereas Kashif Bhatti has been performing for three years. Now you have Bilal Asif who has performed in only one final. Faheem Ashraf again gets picked based on just one performance in the final. This reminds me of the old days when just the final of the domestic tournament was televised and if you performed in that you were automatically selected for the Pakistan team,” he said.

Latif blamed the team management for deceiving the people with false statements while claiming that the people will stop believing them if these wrongful statements persist.

“We will support both Faheem Ashraf and Bilal Asif. But I am trying to prove that they did not speak the truth before. This is like throwing sand into everyone’s eyes. If they keep on doing this we will stop believing in what they say in the future. We will than criticise and then you will say that they are always criticising,” he concluded.