Karachi: Pakistan's young left-arm spinner Zafar Gohar lost out on a golden opportunity to make his Test debut for the national team in the first Test against England in Abu Dhabi when he succumbed to his beauty sleep on Monday night.
According to reliable sources in the Pakistan Cricket Board the logistics department had managed to get the visa and security clearance for Gohar to depart immediately for Abu Dhabi around Monday midnight.
"But we kept on trying to call him to go straight to the airport to catch a available flight where a board official would have handed him over his travel documents but he didn't answer," one source said.
"Later we found out he had fallen asleep and couldn't attend any calls," he added.
"Everything was complete by midnight and we planned to have him in Abu Dhabi early morning to be available for selection if necessary for the first Test," the source stated.
Gohar, who recently played for Pakistan A against England in the two side matches in Sharjah and took five wickets, was named as a reinforcement for leg-spinner Yasir Shah, who was ruled out of the Test after suffering from a back spasm during nets on Monday.
With just one specialist spinner Zulfiqar Babar in the Pakistan squad, Gohar had strong chances of making his Test debut on a slow, low bounced and turning pitch prepared for the first match.
"It is unfortunate he missed out on a lifetime opportunity. Anyone in his place would have kept awake excited by the prospects of getting a chance to play for the national team," the source said.
Another young upcoming spinner leg-spinner Shahzaib Ahmed of Karachi also lost out on a chance to play Test cricket as he didn't have a visa for Abu Dhabi.
"We even contacted Shahzaib in Karachi to find out if he had a visa so that he could fly out as a reinforcement but he also didn't have a visa," the source said.
Gohar had returned from Sharjah just two days back after playing in the side matches but didn't have a multiple entry visa for UAE.
