PCB chairman not happy with inconsistent Abdul Razzaq

By Nadira Mushtaque

Zaka Ashraf puts blame of Bangladesh's hesitance to tour Pakistan on Punjab government.

LAHORE, Pakistan (TheSportsNEXT) October 15, 2012: Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Chaudhry Zaka Ashraf said Monday that the cricket board has supported veteran all-rounder Abdul Razzaq consistently but he failed to come up with the goods on regular basis.

Talking exclusively with TheSportsNEXT.com, Zaka Ashraf said, “Selectors didn't want to select Abdul Razzaq for the ICC World Twenty20 2012 but I intervened to get him selected in the team but performance was not that remarkable to earn him an automatic place in the playing eleven”.

Talking about absence of senior cricketers in the domestic cricket tournaments, the PCB chief said the board has made it clear to all the players in the national circuit that they must play domestic cricket if they want to get considered for national selection. “None of the players would be allowed to play county cricket if they try to prefer it over domestic cricket”, he made it clear.

International cricket is returning to Pakistan’s biggest metropolis Karachi next week and the PCB chief was not only happy about it but he mentioned the board officials were keeping a very close look at the PakistanXIvWorldXI matches at National Stadium on October 20-21, 2012.

He stated that the International Cricket Council has been supporting the PCB on a number of issues especially in resumption of international cricket. He alleged that lack of security arrangements by the Punjab government never helped the PCB to make foreign teams tour Pakistan. He added that the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) was almost certain to send its team to Pakistan but Punjab government’s refusal to provide sufficient level of security made the BCB to stop its team from touring the war-torn country.

Talking about gutsy players like Ahmed Shehzad and Zulqarnain Haider, Chaudhry Zaka Ashraf said that both the players are good international cricketers and the PCB supported both of them for a long time but both have psychological problems which is not helping their international careers.

“Zulqarnain Haider threatened selectors after they dropped him for the Australia series and Ahmed Shehzad showed indiscipline in a number of domestic matches against umpires. Services of sports psychologist Maqbool Babri will be taken for both the players”, he said.