Young pacer Shahnawaz Dahani has voiced his frustration and displeasure over his omission from the Pakistan squad for the upcoming three-match ODI series against Afghanistan and Asia Cup 2023.
Pakistan chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq on Wednesday, announced an 18-player squad for the series against Afghanistan and the ACC Men’s Asia Cup 2023.
The recent announcement saw Faheem Ashraf, Tayyab Tahir, and Saud Shakeel making their comebacks in the ODI squad, however, Shahnawaz Dahani failed to make it into the contingent.
The situation escalated when former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif shared List-A stats of Pakistani pacers, however, the list did not include Shahanawaz Dahani’s stats.
Dahani was exasperated over being left out and expressed his frustration on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
He shared his List-A stats, suggesting that he had been unfairly overlooked as if he is not a Pakistani pace bowler.
“Seems as if Dahani is not a Pakistani pacer??” Dahani replied to Rashid Latif’s tweet.
He further showed his disappointment with sports journalists about the fact that nobody brought the chief selector’s attention to his stats or ask about his exclusion during chief selector Inzamam’s press conference.
“Not even a single journalist or cricket analyst even dared to ask questions or show these stats to selectors.” Dahani tweeted.
He deleted his tweets later, which had already gone viral by then.
An 18-member Pakistan squad will take on Afghanistan in Sri Lanka from 22 to 26 August and it will be trimmed to 17 players for the Asia Cup, commencing from 30th August at Multan Cricket Stadium. The opening game will see host Pakistan face Nepal.
The team will assemble in Hambantota on 18 August with the players in Pakistan departing on 17 August. The players in Pakistan will hold a three-day camp on 14, 15 and 16 August at the National Cricket Academy, Lahore.
The squad was finalised following consultations between the national men’s selection committee – which also includes Mickey Arthur, Grant Bradburn and Hassan Cheema (secretary) – and Pakistan captain Babar Azam.