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While naming the Pakistan squad for Sharjah Cup last week, the selectors seemed to have overlooked the credentials of a couple of deserving candidates. Imran Farhat and Faisal Iqbal, two young batsmen who were part of the squad when the national side toured New Zealand and England this year, must feel desperately unlucky to be left out despite doing well in the ongoing Patron's Trophy Grade- I Cricket Tournament.

Shadab Kabir, who turns 24 next month and already a forgotten man of Pakistan cricket having last played at the highest level several years, was the leading batsman with a tally of 395 runs at the end of the fourth round of the most competitive domestic national championship for several years.

Likewise, young pace bowlers Shabbir Ahmed and Fazle Akbar have grossly overlooked by clueless Wasim Bari and company. Both had claimed 19 wickets, averaging below 18. Rana Naveed-ul-Hasan, a budding pace bowling all-rounder, was selected in the one-day squad for the aborted series against New Zealand over three weeks ago. But now he finds himself out of the reckoning.

Shoaib Akhtar, a known expensive tourist who appears to be the favourite player among the PCB hierarchy without any doubt, gets yet another chance to resurrect an otherwise chequered international career. His batting was revelation in the Patron's Trophy. In fact, such was his exploits with the bat that it overshadowed his orindary bowling deeds in the four matches he played.

One thing that clearly emerges from the selection of Sharjah-bound team is that performance of the players in country's premier events were not taken into consideration by the selectors whereby making the whole exercise of domestic cricket meaningless.

If Pakistan harbour hopes of repeating their World Cup triumph of eight years ago, they must ensure that young fringe players are given proper opportunities to prove their mettle before it is too late.

Who can guarantee that the likes of ageing and veteran Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, the perennial injury-prone Shoaib Akhtar and Saeed Anwar will be around during the 2003 World Cup? Barely 15 months are left before theWorld Cup takes place in South Africa. And yet the PCB has not been able to work out a strategy to assemble a strong and importantly a fit squad before the team flies out to South Africa in February 2003.

© Dawn