For Aamir Sohail, watching the current Pakistan cricket team play well (despite the doubters) gives him much satisfaction. ‘‘They could have done better, if they had controlled the extras’’, Sohail says.Appointed Pakistan’s chairman of selectors immediately after the World Cup last year, Sohail brought in the new faces — Yasir Hameed, Shabbir, Shoaib Malik, Imran Farhat, Danish Kaneria — at the expense of the old guard.That brought him a lot of flak — how could you drop Waqar Younis, Wasim Akram and Saeed Anwar? — but the returns were tangible and immediate. Between March 2003 and January 2004, when he quit, Pakistan did not lose a single Test series.It was, he says, an enjoyable period and he is glad to have taken up the challenge. ‘‘We had to start from scratch and also look at players who had passed their prime. Happily for us, we decided on the right players and they proved us right. “The tough decisions to drop Wasim, Waqar and Anwar and appoint a new captain in Rashid Latif did not come easy, Sohail says, defending his selection panel. ‘‘In countries like India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, there is a lot of natural talent. When we took these decisions, we did not want to drop the seniors, but just look at the new faces. Now these guys are well established.’’The veterans weren’t the only ones dropped. Seniors were, too, like Younis Khan. ‘‘The problem with Younis Khan was he never contributed greatly,’’ Sohail says. ‘‘As a senior player he should have set up at least 80 per cent of the wins. But he was getting out in his 30s, 40s so we decided there was no use of having him in the team.’’Others dropped, like Moin Khan and Shahid Afridi, are now back in the side. Something Sohail welcomes. ‘‘We dropped Moin but brought him back and since then he has performed well. With Shahid Afridi, it’s always a gamble. You cannot rely on a player like him, so you need specialists because it will relax even the one-drop batsman.’’As during his playing days, Sohail’s time as chief selector was full of controversy, replete with ‘media fights’ with coach Javed Miandad, captains Rashid Latif and later Inzamam-ul Haq. Looking back, Sohail believes they were ‘‘differences of opinion’’. ‘‘When four people are sitting together, there will be some providing some strong logic and argument. You put forward your case and back it up. The media just blew it out of proportion,’’ says the former Pakistan captain.He also got into a fight, of sorts, with co-commentator Mike Haysman. ‘‘It was just my opinion against his. You cannot call it a fight. He just kept dragging a point back and forth. It was a close decision and I said let the people decide. Even the replays showed that the ball had hit the middle of the bat. But he just kept bringing it up. Importantly, though, we are still good friends.’’Today has no regrets over his decision to quit as selector. ‘‘I went out on my own terms, and I didn’t have any problems leaving because you cannot remain chief selector forever. I am just too busy a person to be involved this way.’’Not too busy, though, to watch the current series — and to make his notes and observations. Inzamam, he says, has not gone in ‘for the kill’, especially in Sunday’s day-nighter at the Gaddafi Stadium. ‘‘The batsmen have enjoyed themselves and its been a sort of an even contest. The Pakistani bowling is better and that’s been proved. Somehow the captain has made a few miscalculations, which would otherwise helped in scripting a win.’’
