TORONTO, Oct 16: Last-minute changes in the 15-member team denied Pakistan of a possible victory in the just concluded four-nation Twenty20 cricket Tournament in Canada, said Salahuddin Ahmed who has already resigned in a huff as chief selector last week.

Salahuddin, popularly known as “Sallu,” is currently in Canada to visit his elder sister. During his stay here he watched some matches of the Twenty20 event which Sri Lanka won beating Pakistan by five wickets in the final.

“The Maple Leaf wicket at King City was ideal for spinners and unfortunately someone changed the Pakistan team, replacing genuine off-spinner Saeed Ajmal with an inexperienced opening batsman who lost his wicket without scoring in the crucial final match,” Salahuddin lamented. “Had there been Saeed in the team, possibly the result in the final would have been different”.

He said there was no need to included a fourth opening batsman in the team at the cost of a good spinner.

Salahuddin explained that he and other members of the three-man selection panel — Shafqat Rana and Saleem Jaffer, had named the 15-member squad for Toronto event on the basis of merit and merit alone but an unidentified official excluded the name of the spinner and pushed in an additional opener for the Twenty20 tournament.

“This was a serious mistake that cost Shoaib Malik’s team the coveted title,” added Salahuddin, who is returning home on Sunday.

Continuing, Salahuddin said the team was already having three openers — Salman Butt, Khalid Latif and Kamran Akmal with captain having the choice of brining in the make-shift opener Kamran Akmal in the playing line up creating room for an extra player — either an all rounder or a slow bowler.

“In that situation no one can justify the inclusion of a fourth opener who was yet to get an international match temperament.” He said Shoaib Khan is a talented lad but he had to wait for his turn.

Salahuddin pointed out that during his post final comments the Pakistan coach Geoff Lawson also realised that his side lacked spin attack. “I agree with him (Lawson) that it was the spinners’ track and Saeed Ajmal could have been useful weapon to win tournament here,” he said in an exclusive interview with daily Dawn.

Explaining his point further Salahuddin said the speedster Shoaib Akhtar bowled only three overs in the final and conceded no less than 40 runs.

When pointed out to him that Shoaib bowled recklessly, Salahuddin said: “With sheer speed of fast bowler like Brett Lee and Shoaib Akhtar, even an edge goes for four. And this is what had happened when Shoaib conceded 16 runs in his third over.”

To prove his point further Salahuddin also said that Sri Lanka’s slow bowler Ajantha Mendis was declared Man of the Series.

Talking about his resignation as selector in chief, he said he never compromised on principles and therefore decided to quit the job.

Praising the appointment of new PCB chairman, Salahuddin said he was happy to know that the new cricket chief Ijaz Butt has already ordered a probe into the team-tampering affairs. “Mr Ijaz Butt is an honest administrator and is a former chairman of the national selection committee. He must have felt the negative impact of last-minute change in the team.”

Answering yet another question, Salahuddin said he had no idea whether his resignation has been accepted or not. “But what I feel is that the new cricket boss has every right to choose a new panel of his choice as I mentioned in my resignation,” he said.