PakPassion.net recently performed an exclusive interview with the former Pakistani leg-spinner. Qadir shared his thoughts on many of the major issues facing Pakistan Cricket, one of which was his appointment and subsequent abrupt resignation as the Chief Selector.

by Nimra Ishtiaq

28 December 2010

 

Abdul Qadir was appointed as the Chief Selector of the Pakistan Team in November 2008. His appointment was part of the PCB’s drive to utilise the experience of former Test cricketers by giving them decision-making roles in the board.

PakPassion.net recently performed an exclusive interview with the former Pakistani leg-spinner. Qadir shared his thoughts on many of the major issues facing Pakistan Cricket, one of which was his appointment and subsequent abrupt resignation as the Chief Selector. He stated that at his appointment, he was assured of complete independence in selection matters, but the events that soon followed his appointment proved otherwise.

Qadir outlined the various contractual obligations that the board failed to honour. One of the clauses in his contract stated that he would be involved in selecting the playing XI for the matches. “After signing the contract, I was told that I wouldn’t have any say in picking the final XI. I was also ordered to consult the captain and the coach before finalising the squad for any series.”

Being a man of principle, Qadir did consider stepping down from his post as soon as he saw the first signs of breach of contract by the PCB. However, he deemed it inappropriate to resign at that point in time. He stated, “Former Test cricketers had finally been given significant roles in the board, therefore I did not want to be the first one to resign. It was in fact, Javed Miandad’s resignation some time later, which made my decision to resign a lot easier.”

Abdul Qadir’s decision to relinquish his post in June 2009 drew heavy criticism from the media, experts and fans alike. He was censured for quitting at a time when the national team was in the middle of its Twenty20 World Cup campaign. Qadir lashed out at the media for blowing it out of proportion. “The media these days does not bother to verify the facts before putting out ‘breaking news’. It is absolutely wrong to say that I resigned in the middle of the tournament. I stepped down from my post on June 5, while our team’s T20 World Cup campaign commenced on June 7. I can even forward my resignation letter to you if you wish,” Qadir clarified.

He further added, “My resignation was immediately accepted and I wasn’t asked to continue my services, which is in complete contrast to what happened when Mr. Ilyas resigned recently.”

As the Chairman of the selection committee, Abdul Qadir’s last assignment was to select the Pakistan squad for the Twenty20 World Cup in England, which eventually ended with Pakistan lifting the coveted trophy. “I was never appreciated for selecting the squad that went on to be crowned the World Champions in T20. Instead, I get lambasted for resigning in the middle of an important tournament, which isn’t even true,” he said.

Qadir, who in his playing days was famous for possessing a fast bowler’s temperament, had hitherto maintained a careful silence over the reasons for his resignation, and has only recently identified a “lack of independence” as the main reason for his decision. However, few people are fully aware of the circumstances that led to the big decision.

Speaking exclusively with PakPassion.net, Qadir disclosed that the spur of his decision was the dispute about the selection of Pakistan’s maverick fast bowler, Shoaib Akhtar. Throughout his entire tenure as Chief Selector, Qadir faced resolute opposition from the coach Intikhab Alam and manager Yawar Saeed regarding Shoaib’s selection.

“Intikhab and Yawar were always against Shoaib’s inclusion even though they could never come up with a valid reason to support their argument,” he revealed.

The PCB had designed a challenging fitness test for the players before selecting the team for the ODI series against Australia in the UAE. Qadir has now revealed the real motive behind the move. “The coach and the manager specifically designed such a tough fitness test so that Shoaib would fail it and thus, not get selected.”

However, the Rawalpindi Express was unfazed by the stiff challenge. He passed the fitness test, and after agreeing to certain terms and conditions set out to him by the PCB, he was awarded a call-up to the national side. The fiery pacer played the first two matches of the series, before getting dropped for the third ODI.

“As I was in Dubai at that time, I asked the coach about Shoaib’s exclusion. Intikhab failed to satisfy me with his vague excuses for the move, so I was able to push for Shoaib’s selection in the next two matches,” Qadir said.

Shoaib Akhtar went on to bowl well with good pace and picked three wickets in the last two ODI matches of the series. With his impressive commitment in the field throughout the series, he made a strong case for his selection in Pakistan’s Twenty20 World Cup Squad. But once again, the speed star’s selection stirred up a debate amongst the decision-makers.

“On the eve of the selection committee’s meeting for Pakistan’s World Cup squad selection, Intikhab Alam telephoned me and told me not to select Shoaib at any cost” Qadir recalled.

In the meeting next morning, the Chief Selector sought the opinions of his fellow selectors and the team management. Although the captain Younis Khan raised no objections, the coach once again expressed his dissent over Shoaib’s inclusion; Intikhab's reasons failed to convince the Chief Selector yet again. Therefore, the spirited fast bowler was duly selected. However, soon Akhtar was at the centre of a fresh controversy once more as he failed to attend the camp prior to the team’s departure to England due to some skin-related problems.

“Although Salman Butt also failed to report to the camp, Shoaib was the only one who was punished. The coach and manager charged him with some sort of a disciplinary offence in consultation with Ijaz Butt, thereby axing him from the squad,” Qadir remarked.

The PCB had hastily announced the Khanewal-born medium pacer, Rao Iftikhar Anjum’s name as Akhtar’s replacement for the tournament. The former Chief Selector rather surprisingly stated,”The selection committee was not taken into confidence regarding Shoaib’s eviction and Iftikhar Anjum’s subsequent inclusion in the squad. We were not even notified of these changes!”

After these events, Abdul Qadir had no plans of getting on with his role in such a dishonest environment in the board. “My decision to step down was based on principles. I could not allow myself to make further compromises, so I was left with no option but to resign”, he concluded.