Now he's back in the India side Sourav Ganguly has decided to turn his hand to solving the worries of the England one-day team. The solution, he believes, is none other than Northants pie-muncher Usman Afzaal. Yes, Usman Afzaal. No, you haven't misread, Usman Afzaal.
“I have seen a lot of England’s ODI performances over the last couple of years, including the two in the Champions Trophy. I am very surprised that there is not room in that England team for Usman Afzaal.
If I was Michael Vaughan I would want Northamptonshire’s Usman Afzaal in my team. I have played with him at Northamptonshire and seen him play Test cricket for England and he is a consistent and brilliant one day player. He has that extra bit of special talent that is needed in one day cricket to be able to keep things going at the right momentum whatever the conditions.
He showed in his last test innings, which was against the world champs Australia and in which he made 50 odd, that he not only has class but also the temperament to succeed against the best. I just can’t see what he has done wrong to be consistently ignored by the selectors. He is the type of player that England need, especially in the sub-continent given that he is a one of the best players of spin bowling in England.”
Old Sourav obviously chooses to gloss over the fact that Afzaal looked anything but a Test player during his brief appearances in 2001, but, in fairness, he was a youngster, and he did average 64 in Pro-40 cricket last summer. The real clout behind the story soon emerges however, as Ganguly played with Afzaal at Northants last season, and the pair share the same agent. Cynical? Me? Never...
No comments:
Post a Comment