This column is due to appear on the morning of the start of the Asian Test Championship final between Pakistan and Sri Lanka and any observations I might have had, runs the risk of becoming null and void

Omar Kureishi06-Mar-2002This column is due to appear on the morning of the start of the Asian Test Championship final between Pakistan and Sri Lanka and any observations I might have had, runs the risk of becoming null and void. But I am going to make them all the same. There is, first of all, the somewhat thorny issue of dropping Wasim Akram.Wasim has not been in the best of form, mainly because of fitness problems. Wasim feels that he has been badly done by but I think he has not made a convincing enough case for himself. By his own admission, he opted not to play in the third one-day against the West Indies at Sharjah because he felt that Mohammad Sami, after his hat trick, deserved to play. This noble gesture was self-defeating for he needed a work-out to get back into rhythm and feel fully comfortable about his fitness.Somewhat unwisely, he chose to go to India to appear in a television programme about the time when the team for the Lahore final was to be selected. He should have been bowling in the nets for all to see that he was fully fit. Surely he is street-smart enough to know that he could not take his selection for granted. Even Don Bradman had to prove that he was still good enough in 1946 when international cricket resumed after the war.I am convinced that there is enough cricket left in him to be our key bowler in the World Cup 2003 and he should not be disheartened and take a leaf out of Steve Waugh’s book. Sacked as the one-day captain and out of the Australian one-day team, he has expressed his determination to win back his place in the team.That Wasim has 400-plus wickets in both versions of the game makes him one of the greatest bowlers of all times. But cricket is a cruel game and reputations count for nothing. What counts is continuing performance. A lot of promising fast bowlers are coming up but they are not in the same league as a fully fit Wasim Akram, hungry for wickets. He must get back his fitness and the hunger for wickets will come automatically.I was delighted to see both Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Malik in the Pakistan squad. About Afridi there should be no doubts that he belongs both in the Test team as well as in the one-day team. He has done enough in both versions of the game to be considered a regular. Indeed he is emerging as a bona fide all-rounder and throw in his fielding and here is a quality player. I have this feeling that he is getting too much advice (well-intentioned) and he is curbing his natural aggression and being made to comply with text-book correctness.He, sometimes, gives the impression that adrenalin flows too freely. But that’s the way he plays or should play. He should also be given longer spells as a bowler and not just be brought in to break up a stubborn partnership, which he routinely does. Most of all, he is a fine team man and has never left any doubt in anyone’s mind that he plays for Pakistan and gives his hundred per cent.There are some rumours that Shoaib Malik may be asked to open the innings. I hope there is no basis to these rumours. Shoaib Malik belongs in the middle order and the opening slots should go to specialists, certainly in a Test match. Shoaib Malik is a talented cricketer and he should be nursed. To throw him in the deep end carries the risk of nipping a promising career in the bud.A lot will depend on what sort of wicket is prepared for this one-off Test match. One would like to see a result. Sri Lanka has become a good Test team and they have, of course, Muttiah Muralitharan who can turn the ball on any kind of surface but they have also got a very useful seam attack spearheaded by the veteran Chaminda Vaas. And a strong batting line-up. It is a team that has got used to winning.They certainly don’t come to Lahore as the under-dogs and Sanath Jayasuriya is a smart captain, apart from being an explosive batsman. The cap of captaincy fits easily on his head.The last time the two met in the Asian Test Championship final is Dhaka, it was a one-sided game and Sri Lankans were no match. In that final, Ijaz Ahmed and Inzamamul Haq got double hundreds and Wasim Akram got a hat trick. Now there will be no Ijaz and Wasim and an out of form Inzamam. Still, there is plenty of talent in this Pakistan team and if it plays to its potential, there should be no problems. In any case, we should see some good cricket.Finally, I am glad to see Wasim Raja back in the cricket mainstream, if only as a match referee. In his days, he was one of the most gifted players around who somehow never fully delivered on his promise. He was one of my favourites and I have seen him play some splendid innings, none more splendid than his swashbuckling hundred against India at Jalandhar in 1983. He sure could hit a cricket ball.