Pak’s ''''risky'''' decision to rest key pacers for Zimbabwe tour paid off: Mohsin

Karachi, Sept 16 : Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chief Selector Mohsin Khan has said that the decision to rest fast bowlers Umer Gul and Wahab Riaz and inject new talent, including fast bowler Aizaz Cheema and leg-spinner Yasir Shah, into the team for the Zimbabwe tour has paid dividends. The team, featuring new faces, whitewashed Zimbabwe in the three-match one-dayers after winning the one-off Test.
Mohsin felt exonerated since it never was an easy task to attain such results against a resurgent Zimbabwe, who were enjoying an excellent run after defeating Bangladesh.
“If I’ll say I was not afraid that the decision would bounce, I’d be wrong. There were some fears because we took a risk, but they were taken with honesty in the team interest,” The Express Tribune quoted Mohsin, as saying.
“We wanted to test new faces to form a back-up pool, which is my prime objective since I took over as the chief selector,” he pointed out, adding, “Today, I can say we have back-up of players in nearly every department.”
Talking about the chance they took over a tricky opposition, Mohsin said, “We never took Zimbabwe as weak opponents, but at some point, we had to take chances to give new players opportunities ahead of the tough series against Sri Lanka and England.”
Mohsin said that the tour has so far been successful for Pakistan, adding that the team''''s “splendid performance” against Zimbabwe “deserves applause”.
The chief selector, however, warned the team of complacency in the Twenty20s, noting that Zimbabwe had the ability to bounce back.
“It [Twenty20 series] will be a different ball game,” he said. “The Pakistan team would have to work hard to beat the hosts because in this format, any team can win.”