One of the best to represent the Pakistan cricket team is hurt by the current state of the side. Shahid Afridi, the most capped player and former captain of Pakistan, doesn’t like how decisions have been taken for the last few months. The performance has perhaps never been so poor in the nation’s contemporary, and the selection of players often doesn’t make sense.
Why was Shadab Khan selected?
Shahid has specifically raised questions over Shadab Khan’s selection. Despite scoring just 24 runs at 6 in Pakistan’s domestic tournament, the Champions T20 Cup 2024, he has been added to the ODI squad for the upcoming New Zealand series. And he isn’t even an all-rounder anymore, as he didn’t even bowl in the tournament.
“No one knows how these boys return to the team. What performance has Shadab Khan shown in domestic cricket? When decisions are not made on merit, this is how things will go. The players who are currently out of the T20I squad will eventually return,” Shahid Afridi told Cricket Pakistan.
PCB busy changing coaches & captains, says Shahid Afridi
The destructive batter added that the situation is quite dire. Time isn’t being spent on making the team, but the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is busy changing captains, coaches, and even chairman’s. According to Shahid, Pakistan cricket is in ICU, and the situation will get worse if action isn’t taken soon.
“It’s a big question why a PCB representative was not invited to the Champions Trophy final event. We spend all our time preparing, and in the end, we end up getting surgeries. Our cricket has been in the ICU for quite some time. As soon as a new chairman comes, everything changes,” the former Pakistan captain added.
“We change captains very quickly. Captains and coaches should be given time, and we shouldn’t be hanging a sword over their heads. Coaches blame players to save their own jobs. When we win, coaches take all the credit,” Shahid added.
Pakistan Squad for New Zealand Tour
ODI: Mohammad Rizwan (c), Salman Ali Agha (vc), Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Akif Javed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Imam-ul-Haq, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Wasim, Irfan Niazi, Naseem Shah, Sufiyan Muqeem, Tayyab Tahir.
T20I: Salman Ali Agha (c), Shadab Khan (vc), Abdul Samad, Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Hasan Nawaz, Jahandad Khan, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Haris, Irfan Khan Niazi, Omair Bin Yousuf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Moqim, Usman Khan.
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