Please don146;t pick on Shoaib

It makes me laugh when people suggest Shoaib Akhtar should have been in the field when India was piling up a massive score on the third day of the Rawalpindi Test. He should have tested himself out for an over or two is the popular refrain. Who are they to know he never checked himself out? He must have done so in the nets prior to the day8217;s play and found out he wasn8217;t in any condition to bowl as only few can in international cricket.

Please also do not pick him for laying his bat about in the final moments of Pakistan innings. A physical situation can improve over an extra night8217;s rest. No cricketer would hold himself back when the opposition is tightening the screws on a match. I also must clarify he never told me Inzamam-ul Haq was not giving him the field he wanted. Some imaginative writer has been working on it.

At the end of it all, the startling truth has been the failure of Pakistan fast bowlers to subdue the famed Indian batting line-up. Shoaib tried all through to get his outswinger going but could not summon it. Mohammad Sami was nowhere his best and suffered from a fault in his bowling action.

Press Trust of India