KARACHI: Pakistan Test cricketer Ahmed Shehzad opened up for the first time about his exclusion from the National team and termed it a ‘pre-planned approach’.
Ahmed, in an exclusive interview with Cricket Pakistan, challenged the then head coach of Pakistan Cricket Team Waqar Younis for a face-to-face confrontation as the former claimed that his report in 2016 massively put a dent in his flourishing career.
In the report, Waqar wrote to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) management that Ahmed and Umar Akmal must play domestic cricket to get back into the national side.
“I have not seen the report myself but a PCB official told me that these remarks have been said regarding me. But I believe that these things should be discussed face-to-face and I am ready to take on that challenge. Then we will see who is right and who is wrong,” Ahmed told Cricket Pakistan.
“Maybe I have more things to say and I might even have a bigger reach than them but I opt to stay quiet because you need to live up to your own standards. But their words hurt my career, especially since I was not allowed to present my case,” he maintained.
Shehzad then went on to term it a pre-planned approach to associate his name with Akmal to portray a negative image of him.
“Some of my teammates tried to associate my name with Umar Akmal by planning to give a negative impression regarding me,” Ahmed stated.
“This was a pre-planned approach and they wanted to kill two birds with one stone. I will not say their name but I will not make this public. It started from within the team,” he continued.
The right-handed batter then also compared his case with the former Indian captain Virat Kohli and claimed that the latter rose to success due to his senior MS Dhoni, whereas, complained that in Pakistan, senior players let juniors down.
“I have said this before and I will say it again, Kohli’s career picked off amazingly because he found MS Dhoni but unfortunately, here in Pakistan, your own people cannot stand your success,” Ahmed claimed.
“Our own senior players and ex-cricketers cannot digest seeing someone succeed in the cricketing world, which is unfortunate for Pakistan cricket,” he stressed.
It is pertinent to mention here that Ahmed last represented Pakistan in 2019 during Sri Lanka’s tour to the country. The touring side clean swept the Green Shirts by 3-0. The series, however, was concluded in the second T20I for Ahmed, as he was not picked in the Playing XI in the final match.
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