Would have picked Yousuf over Shahid Afridi in 1999, claims Aamer Sohail
Sohail claims that Afridi could not bat or bowl at 1999 World Cup
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Making the claim that Shahid Afridi could neither bat nor bowl, Aamer Sohail said that he would have picked Mohammad Yousuf as the opener for the 1999 World Cup. The former skipper also revealed how Wasim Akram had said that Pakistan would have chosen to bowl had they won the toss in the final.
Pakistan had a dream run in the 1999 World Cup, held in England, making it all the way to the final where they suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Australia at Lord’s. The team was littered with talent all across the board with the likes of Inzamam-ul-Haq and Saeed Anwar wielding the willow and Wasim Akram and Shoaib Akhtar wreaking havoc with the ball. They also had a hard-hitting youngster in the form of Shahid Afridi who had shown some promise in the three years with the national team.
However, Sohail, who had captained Afridi for 11 matches, is of the opinion that the youngster should not have been given a spot in that team. The former opener even named Mohammad Yousuf as his preferred replacement for the all rounder in the team citing Afridi’s lack of productivity in tough conditions as the reason.
“When I was captain in 1998, we had decided with the selectors that we should have regular openers for the World Cup who can stay at the wicket and play out the new ball,” Sohail revealed through his YouTube channel, reported News18.
“Unfortunately, you opted for Shahid Afridi, he had ability on flat low-bouncing tracks where he would take on the bowlers and bring the opposition under pressure. But in demanding conditions, that is a big gamble. He was neither able to bowl nor able to bat. If I was the captain instead of Wasim Akram, I would have preferred Mohammad Yousuf.”
Afridi had a World Cup to forget as he could only muster a grand total of 93 runs in the seven innings he played during the tournament. 50 of those runs came when he was dropped down to the No.7 spot for the final two matches. Sohail blamed the lack of consistency in team selection as the major reason why Pakistan played the World Cup like a 'local team'.
“So, according to me there were two reasons for your loss at the World Cup. One was that your team combination was not correct at all and the other that you opted to bat after winning the toss when you knew that it had been pelting down in London,” he added.
“From my cricketing experience and my observation, I can say that we played the entire World Cup like a local team. We had one line-up in a match and a different line-up in the next match with changing batting orders.”
Pakistan still managed to impress and eventually found themselves at Lord’s playing their second World Cup final in three events. However, what followed was one of the most one sided finals in cricket history as Australia sealed the Cup - their first on the road to a historic Three-peat. One of the decisions that has always been questioned since that day was Wasim Akram’s decision to bat first on a wicket that looked well suited for bowlers.
Sohail revealed that Salim Malik had a word with the captain ahead of the game and the latter had assured him that Pakistan would bowl if they won the toss.
“Before the World Cup final, there were reports that it had rained a lot in London. As it is, there is a slope at Lord’s due to which the ball does something all the time,” Sohail said. “Salim Malik told me that he had requested Wasim Akram not to bat first after winning the toss else we would be in great difficulty. We should not have exposed our batsmen on a difficult pitch against a confident Australian bowling line-up,” Sohail revealed.
“Salim Malik told me that Wasim Akram had said that we would definitely bowl first after winning the toss. Because our bowling was doing well at that time, we could have restricted the opposition to a low total and lifted the confidence of our batsmen.”
