Raja slams Misbah for ‘safe’ selection

Former Pakistan cricketer Ramiz Raja is disappointed with the 20 probables selected by the Men in Green’s head coach-cum-chief selector Misbahul Haq for the upcoming limited-overs series against Sri Lanka.

While speaking in a Youtube video, the famous commentator criticised Misbah for employing a safety first approach in his selection.

“It was disappointing to see no new name or experimentation from Misbah, despite playing against a second-string Sri Lanka side,” said Raja. “However, it was expected as it is his first big assignment and he wants to play it safe and have put his faith in tried and tested players.”

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The 57-year-old believes that Men in Green needs out of the box thinking with regards to the future.

 “You could have invited around four to five players to this camp, who you think are talented and have what it takes to serve Pakistan in future,” he said. “Instead, those players have been recalled who have been playing for Pakistan for last 10 years and we are aware of their potential and limitations.”

“I understand it is important to not disturb your nucleus, but you can always experiment with new players around them. So it was disappointing to see no players from Under-19 or Under-23 among the probables,” he added.

Raja also called for more sporting tracks in the ongoing Quaid-e-Azam (QeA) Trophy tournament.

“I want to congratulate all the batsmen who scored centuries in the first round. It was good to see our batsmen play long innings as it’s a very fine habit,” he said. “At the same time, it is important to have the correct balance between bat and the ball by improving the quality of pitches and keeping everyone interested.”