London, Dec 10 (Inditop.com) England batsman Owais Shah slammed coach Andy Flower for dropping him from the squad even after a decent performance in the Champions Trophy in South Africa.
Flower reasoned Shah’s inconsistency as the reason for axing him for the one-day series in South Africa. But the Middlesex batsman, who scored an impressive 98 in a 22-run win over South Africa, couldn’t accept the reason.
“I had a chat with Andy Flower and he said I wasn’t consistent enough with the bat and that’s why I’ve been left out which I found a bit bizarre. I had a really good Champions Trophy and I’m a little bit miffed about it all. I have got the most runs for England in the last 12 months so I don’t really know where he’s coming from,” Shah was quoted as saying in the English media.
“I thought he would know that because I am sure he would have discussed that with the selectors and I’m sure he would have had those stats. I feel pretty miffed by it all. I could not personally believe it because most of the time you can see it coming, especially if you haven’t been scoring runs.”
But facts don’t support Shah. He has scored 546 run at an average of just 30, while Jonathan Trott and Eoin Morgan, who are his competitors, averaged 49 and 36 respectively this year.
Paul Collingwood has now shot to the top of the run charts following his ton at Centurion, and his average of 50 shows what consistency is all about. What made Shah a liability in the team were his fielding and running between the wickets.
“I believe that I’m a lot more destructive, especially in the one-day game, which is what you want,” argued Shah. “I’m a six-hitter, which is what you saw in South Africa. I got 98 in the Champions Trophy and that’s what I can do.
“England do have players who can score runs, but it’s how you score runs, how quickly you score runs, how you can change the game.”