Anwar will not sever all ties with the game

Islamabad: One of Pakistan’s finest and most prolific opening batsmen Saeed Anwar is expected to announce his retirement in the next few days as he has given up hopes of playing for the country again after being constantly ignored by the selectors after the World Cup.

The left-hander said he was seriously thinking about retiring but wanted to do it in a way that would be “beneficial” to Pakistan cricket.

“I don’t want to sever all my ties with cricket which has given me a lot of fame and wealth. But the time has come to call it a day,” Anwar told The News.

Anwar said he had been disappointed at being dropped from the team after the World Cup as he thought he had done fairly well in the tournament. “I don’t know why the selectors have ignored me, and apparently they’re not in a position to pick me again.”

Anwar’s illustrious career started in 1989 and spanned over 14 years during which he accumulated 4,052 runs in 55 Tests with 11 hundreds and 25 fifties at an average of 45.52.

For years he formed a formidable opening partnership with Aamir Sohail and appeared in 247 one-day Internationals scoring 8,823 runs at an average of 39 with 20 hundreds and 43 half-centuries.

He holds the record for the highest one-day score of 194 that he made against India in 1997.

Anwar had scores of 23, 29, 25, 101 and 40 not out in the World Cup early this year when all the Pakistan batsmen struggled and his was the only hundred scored against India.

“I’ve enjoyed playing for Pakistan and it has always been a great honour for me to wear the national blazer. I relished the challenge of facing the world’s fastest bowlers and scoring runs against them,” he said. He admitted that after the World Cup he had waited for a call from the selectors “but it never came”.

Anwar was among the eight senior players who were dropped from the squad after Pakistan’s ignominious exit from the World Cup.