Contrary to what the critics either of the arm-chair variety in the media or the on-street wizards may think, team selection is a difficult and complex job. The selectors have to keep a number of factors in view, especially in a team game like cricket. That includes individual performances, balance of the squad, immediate challenges in the series at hand and the future prospects.

Then there are also the key factors of continuity and fairness — simultaneously being applied in case of an individual player and impact on the entire team.

Normally, I do not write back to critics or respond to criticism for I believe that a selector’s ultimate barometer is the results produced by a team or the individuals.

Like any human endeavour, sometimes the results are exceptional, on others they vary between good, average and bad. The selection by nature is also a subjective thing. That makes it open to criticism. One does not mind if any criticism has some substance for everybody has a right to hold an opinion — as long as pros and cons both are fairly discussed. Recently, a section of press including this esteemed publication has criticised the national team selection for the upcoming tour of Zimbabwe.

It is being said that the PCB and its selectors should have gone for wholesale blooding of youth and sat out its stalwarts like skipper Misbah-ul-Haq, Younis Khan, Shahid Afridi, Saeed Ajmal and Mohammad Hafeez. However, these critics completely disregard the fact that Pakistan has in recent years played so few Test matches that every outing is a rare opportunity for our men to brush up their skills for five-day matches.

Then, since Pakistan has to take on the formidable South Africa and then Sri Lanka in five Test matches on top of the two against Zimbabwe — a rare occurrence in itself that we are playing seven Tests in about five months — continuity is of great essence as form is not a switch-on, switch-off thing.

Then take the individual case of Younis, one of the finest batsmen that Pakistan has produced and the most outstanding in the current squad. Would it be fair to drop him only because it is Zimbabwe, when he has stroked a sparkling hundred against South Africa in his second last five-day outing? And then again expect him to take on the best bowling attack in the world in the UAE and still perform wonders?

Similarly, captaincy too requires continuity because moulding individuals into a unit is a continuous job. Should Misbah be punished for doing such an outstanding job over the last two years and being the stand-out performer with the bat in South Africa, the Champions Trophy and in the West Indies?

As for Afridi, his comeback is only seven matches old where he also toppled a world record. The same is the case of Hafeez who needs one good series to find his feet. Should both of these all-rounders be asked to do it against South Africa? I think that would be grossly unfair on them and the selectors realise this well.

A number of critics have mentioned Faisal Iqbal’s selection to be ufair because of his ‘mediocre’ Test record. But would it not have been fair to look at his recent first-class form which is quite outstanding, because only that has been the criterion for his selection for Zimbabwe tour, nothing else.

As a former Test cricketer and an experienced selector, I also find the absolute disregard of these critics for Zimbabwe which is a Test nation and an exciting outfit, and playing at home can bring the best out of them which may surprise some better teams.

I would also like to highlight a key point here that most critics have overlooked which is that from July 1, 2013 every point earned from a Test win is critical because it leads to qualification for the ICC Test Championship in the summer of 2017 in England. If we beat Zimbabwe and a few other teams in the coming months, these points may come handy for Pakistan as only top four Test nations would qualify!

Nobody in Pakistan cricket is afraid of Zimbabwe, or for that matter any outfit. But we select Pakistan squads to the best of our ability and assessment and in the interest of Pakistan cricket – without being overawed or complacent about the opposition.

I must also emphasise here that at least half a dozen youngsters have been named in the three squads for Zimbabwe tour and they have been picked on their current form and their performance in international matches.

Khurram Manzoor has been recalled, so is Shan Masood who has been selected as second choice but only because he was on our radar, reflecting that the selectors were looking to crease out our critical openers’ issue and they looked towards the younger lot to resolve it.

Across the three formats, the selectors at the moment have given opportunities to young guns like Ahmed Shehzad, Khurram Manzoor, Umar Amin, Harris Sohail, Sohaib Maqsood, Asad Ali and Anwar Ali.

As for Hammad Azam, who is indeed a very talented all-round cricketer, the selectors have opted for a different plan this time. Instead of giving Hammad ‘exposure’ in two paltry T20 games in Zimbabwe, we have posted him as the skipper of the under-23 squad so that he could not just groom himself to be worthy of a regular slot in the national team but showcases his leadership qualities as well.

He shall be leading the Pakistan team in a four-nation event where other outfits are perhaps as strong as Zimbabwe — those of India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh — and hence the opportunity to learn and grow are ever greater for Hammad.

The critics must also not forget that the selectors are working at putting together the best available Under-19, the ‘A’ and Under-23 outfits as well. That is where the bulk of our future cricketers are likely to emerge from.

Our Under-19 team has already giving England a multiple pasting in a multi-nation event — a proof that the Pakistani selectors are not doing a bad job of it.

Things are definitely not stagnant in Pakistan cricket as some critics would like to believe without doing their proper homework. With an eye firmly focused on the future, the selectors are doing their best to blend youth with experience because, as history has proved, that is the only recipe for rebuilding teams in world of cricket.

The writer is a current national selector.