Pakistan on Thursday named their 15-man squad for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup to be held in Australia next month. After recovering from a knee injury, Shaheen Afridi will rejoin the team. There was also a lot of pressure from fans and the cricket fraternity to select Shan Masood, who has been in great form recently, and he managed to find a place as well.
Former Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Akhtar, on the other hand, was enraged by the team selection, lashing out at Pakistan Cricket Board chief selector Mohammad Wasim and current head coach Saqlain Mushtaq.
Akhtar came heavy on selectors for not specifically including Fakhar Zaman in the main squad as an opener with Babar Azam instead selecting him as a reserve player.
“Pakistan Cricket Board ne kya select kiya he team. Problem middle order ka that but unhone kaha ki consistency ke saath hum aisa decision karenge jo aapko bara pasand ayeaga, matlab humlog aisa bura decision lenge ki middle order change hi nehi karenge. Fakhar Zaman, I have told this a million times before, give him those six overs. Australia me ball usse suit karega but Babar Azam ko upr hi rakhna,” he said.
The veteran pacer then slammed the head selector for his "ordinary judgments" and chastised his former teammate and current coach Saqlain for his lack of knowledge of T20 cricket. He eventually predicted that Pakistan's World Cup team will be eliminated in the first round.
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“Jab chief selector average hoga unke decision bhi average honge. Saqlain(Mushtaq) last played cricket in 2002, I don’t want to say this as he is my friend, but I don’ think he has any idea about T20 cricket. I don’t think this is your forte. Meanwhile, Mohammad Yousuf is not even there is the team. Had he been there, how could our batting not perform?
"Yousuf is an asset in the dressing room, but I don’t know how much say he has in this team. Iftikhar Ahmed is Misbah part two. Mashallah, we had Rizwan and now he has Iftikhar for company. With this team, we might get knocked out in the first round itself. I am really scared as our batting has no depth. Our captain is also not cut out for this format as he always looks for classic cover drives. He wants to look classic," said Shoaib Akhtar.
Pakistan are placed in Group B and will begin their quest for a second title against India on October 24 in Melbourne.
