Legendary Indian opener Virender Sehwag heavily criticised Pakistan men’s team’s selector Wahab Riaz and accused him of favouritism.
Sehwag’s accusation of Wahab came in the wake of Mohammad Amir’s return to international cricket which eventually saw him representing the national team yet another T20 World Cup.
However, Amir’s comeback did not bring fortune to the Green Shirts as they suffered a group-stage exit for the first time.
Meanwhile, Virender Sehwag was irked by the fact that both Wahab Riaz and Mohammad Amir, who previously criticised the team on national television, are now part of the setup.
“Wahab Riaz and Mohammad Amir, these are two names who criticised the Pakistan team on the same TV channel, giving their comments…Today, one of them is a selector [Riaz] and one is in the playing eleven [Amir],” Sehwag said.
“So the same persons who were criticising, if today they have power, became the selector, what have they done first up? ‘Mohammad Amir was with me, let’s select him’. It’s like if Ajit Agarkar is chairman (of BCCI selection committee) today, he will say ‘come Viru, come Zak (Zaheer Khan)’, I will facilitate your comeback,” Sehwag added.
Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel
Virender Sehwag then advised Pakistan selectors to focus on the team’s future and also to avoid favouritism.
“You have become a selector, you have to look at the future. You have a job, make the right use of it, don’t do favours. That hard step selectors will have to take,” he concluded.
It is worth mentioning here that Pakistan, the former champions, were knocked out of the group stage of the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 as a result of gut-wrenching defeats against the co-host United States of America (USA) and arch-rivals India.
The back-to-back defeats put Pakistan on the verge of an early exit and they then needed the USA to lose their remaining matches.
However, the abandonment of a crucial Group A fixture between USA and Ireland marked the end of Pakistan’s journey in T20 World Cup 2024 despite their triumphs over Canada and Ireland.
READ: Brandon King doubtful for T20 World Cup 2024 remainder