Let the Sialkot Stallions represent Pakistan

What if we send the Sialkot Stallions, our most successful domestic team in the ICC World T20, to represent Pakistan?

Fawad Hussain April 20, 2012
A selector once associated with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said that he would not hesitate to select players from even a small town if their performance outshone cricketers from other parts of the country. 

The point that he wanted to make is that quotas should not be set per region and teams should be selected in the best national interest, irrespective of which provinces and cities the players come from.

Nowadays, a lot of effort is being made by the PCB think-tank to form a formidable squad for the ICC World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka. Amid discussions on who should participate and who should lead the side in the biennial tournament, I wondered – in light of the former chief selector’s thoughts – what if we send the Sialkot Stallions, our most successful domestic team in the format, to represent Pakistan?

Though Sialkot has never performed at the international arena before, I found many points favouring the argument.

Unlike the national team, Sialkot has shown consistency since the inception of the shortest format on our domestic circuit in 2004-2005 by winning seven out of 10 National Twenty20 and Super Eight competitions.

Being a blend of energetic young talent and experienced players, the group has all the ingredients of a top-flight outfit. It has a swashbuckling batter, Imran Nazir, who can turn the tide on the opposition single-handedly over and over again. Further, the team possesses impressive talent in Haris Sohail who has shown potential for performing at the international arena in the recent edition of the Super Eight event.

The team’s most experienced all-rounder is Rana Naveedul Hasan, who also is a match-winner. Finally, the team has seasoned campaigner Shoaib Malik as its leader and he has handsome experience of leading the Pakistan national team.

The spin department, with the likes of Test player Abdul Rehman, upcoming left-arm spinner Raza Hasan and an overall decent fielding show make the team a well-balanced one.

The most convincing fact about Sialkot is that it plays as a unit and is never indifferent to its members, a characteristic which the Pakistan team often lacks. These are all traits that the national team could do well to emulate.

Read more by Fawad here.
WRITTEN BY:
Fawad Hussain
The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necassarily reflect the views and policies of the Express Tribune.

COMMENTS (19)

Zulqarnain | 11 years ago | Reply Morons can believe that malik has potential to threat an international team with force of sialkot stallion , exception of imran nazir who has got real guts for pakistan team , while malik should be banned from cricket he is a henpecked husbnd just an indian agent living in pakistan , son of rehman malik
Abubakar Farooqui | 11 years ago | Reply What do you Think about Stallions, IS there any match fixing behind it or is that only a team effort. How can you neglect the winning captain "Shoaib Malik" who won 7 times for Sialkot stallions. You people even don't know about Malik that when he was captain, Pakistan's win rate in ODI was 77 and in t20 was 83. Afridi's win rate was 54 in ODI and 63 in T20s. Shame on everyone who talks against Shoaib Malik without knowing the facts. People like you have forced or Dear Pakistan to never grow up and be a constantly destroying nation.
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