Pakistan top-order batter Ahmed Shehzad has raised questions over the decision to drop off-spinner Sajid Khan from the Test squad for the upcoming tour of South Africa.
The Pakistan men’s selection committee, on 4 December, announced the squads for the upcoming South Africa tour, scheduled from 10 December to 7 January. The tour comprises three T20Is, three ODIs and two Tests.
However, Sajid Khan, who took 19 wickets in two Test matches against England, was a notable exclusion alongside pace bowler Shaheen Afridi.
The decision did not sit well with Ahmed Shehzad, who criticised the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for dropping Sajid despite his top-notch performance against England.
“You have dropped Sajid Khan from the South Africa series; are you people blind or out of your minds? Do you think you’re the only one going to play in South Africa, where the entire world doesn’t play? And there, you’re taking just Noman Ali,” Shehzad said in a video on his YouTube channel.
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“You should be thanking Sajid because in the slump Pakistan cricket has been stuck in for the last three and a half years — where it had hit rock bottom and people had started laughing at your cricket—he won matches for you.
“And this is how you’ve rewarded him? Just as he was becoming a superstar, you discarded him like a fly from milk.”
Shehzad also lambasted over the decision to rest Shaheen Afridi from the Test series.
“So, you’ve dropped Shaheen and brought in your own group. What did you achieve by dropping Shaheen? Managing workload, right? You’re just fooling the public in the name of workload management,” he stated.
Pakistan squads for South Africa tour
Tests: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Haseebullah (wk), Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub and Salman Ali Agha
ODIs: Mohammad Rizwan (captain & wk), Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufyan Moqim, Tayyab Tahir and Usman Khan (wk)
T20Is: Mohammad Rizwan (captain & wk), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Jahandad Khan, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Omair Bin Yousuf, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufyan Moqim, Tayyab Tahir and Usman Khan (wk)
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