PakPassion.net : How do you rate Pakistan's performance in the 3 test series in Sri Lanka?

Abdul Qadir : They received the wonderful gift of the Twenty/20 World Cup and it was just the right time to continue to provide fans of Pakistan a lift. However Pakistan have simply not played well enough at key times throughout the series. I have heard too many excuses from some players about the lack of test cricket and that we are rusty when it comes to test cricket, but think about it, Mohammad Yousuf did remarkably well in the first test and he hasnt played any test cricket of late and Fawad Alam did very well on test debut. As I say far too many excuses are being offered. At the moment there are simply too many question marks over a number of players. Even on day 5 today at Colombo, Pakistan had a great chance to win this test, but nobody gave that "miracle performance", nobody raised their game enough to lead the team to victory. Instead you have to give Sri Lanka and especially their skipper huge credit.


PakPassion.net : Should Danish Kaneria have played in all 3 tests in Sri Lanka and how do you rate his career so far ?

Abdul Qadir : Both Danish and Abdul Razzaq should have been selected for all 3 tests in my opinion. Danish should have been our matchwinner today, but instead he didnt perform when his country needed him the most. Sadly this has been the case too often with Danish, he has not been consistent enough and not bowled to his ability. Danish is not a matchwinner and has not bowled often enough like he did in the first innings of the 3rd test in Colombo.

He tends to bowl too many loose deliveries and relieves the pressure off the batsman. One of the biggest problems with Danish is that English County cricket is weak against leg spin and the majority of players there are clueless against leg spin and he can pick up wickets there without too much effort most of the time. I'm surprised that the ECB has not done more to improve their players ability to play leg spin.

Danish really needs to improve, he is an experienced bowler who is making too many mistakes again and again.


PakPassion.net : You mentioned that you thought Abdul Razzaq should have been selected for all 3 tests, please elaborate?

Abdul Qadir : I simply dont understand what is going on with Abdul Razzaq's selection. If they dont think that Abdul Razzaq is a test player then why select him for the test squad and sit on the bench for all 3 tests, and for him to take the place of someone who they think was more deserving of a place in test cricket. It was very strange selection policy, picking him in the squad and then not playing him at all.


PakPassion.net : Our batting collapsed dramatically on several occasions in Sri Lanka, what did you make of the collapses?

Abdul Qadir : I strongly believe that players who are not performing should be replaced by players from the "A" team. When I was the chief selector what I was trying to achieve was a situation where if a player from the senior team was not performing consistently, then we had a player from the "A" team ready to replace him.

The senior players are the ones who should take the blame for this test series defeat in Sri Lanka, not the youngsters. The senior batsmen simply did not score enough runs when the team needed them to.

I say replace players who are not performing irrespective of seniority or past reputation. The biggest problem is that the Pakistan Cricket Board is weak against the senior players.


PakPassion.net : Why in your own words did you resign from your post at the PCB?

Abdul Qadir : 3 words - Justice, Respect and Freedom. If you are not receiving justice, respect and freedom in any role you are asked to perform, then it becomes very difficult to do the job to the best of your abilities. I had no choice but to resign as I couldnt carry on like that. I'm a man of principles and I believe in values - sadly not everyone I worked with had the same principles.


PakPassion.net : Shoaib Akhtar has been omitted from the Champions Trophy initial squad of 30, do you think he's past his sell by date now?

Abdul Qadir : Absolutely not ! He is not finished, he will be back. He did very well in Dubai, was working very hard in difficult conditions in the heat of the Emirates and it was simply down to Yawar Saeed and Intikhab Alam that he wasnt included in the T20 squad. They played dirty politics and games and ensured that he wasnt picked for the tour of England. I said to the Chairman that Akhtar should be picked for the Twenty/20 World Cup as that format of the game and conditions in England would have suited him.


PakPassion.net : You've seen the leg spinning talent in Pakistan, any leggies that we should look out for in future?

Abdul Qadir : Yasir Shah is someone who I have hopes for. He played in a 2 day match against Sri Lanka when they were in Pakistan and although he didnt do that well in that match, he is definitely one for the future. Also if I may so, Usman Qadir is one for the future. Usman was selected for the Pakistan "A" squad that has just returned from Australia, but I personally intervened and said to the Chairman that he should not go as he has no first class experience, is too young and also because people will say that he has only been selected because he was my son, which I didnt want. He really is a good bowler and one for the future.


PakPassion.net : Have you seen much of Adil Rashid, if so, what do you make of him?

Abdul Qadir : I've watched him a few times. He's a good prospect, but I think the selectors are making a huge mistake with him. They should be playing him in test cricket, rather than one day cricket. He's a young man and test cricket would give him more of a margin of error rather than T20 or one day cricket where you have very little margin for error. He should definitely be in the England squad for the ongoing Ashes series.


PakPassion.net : Many thanks Qadir Sahib for your time and it would be great if I could catch up with you again in future.

Abdul Qadir : My pleasure, sure give me a call.