Faheem Ashraf posts cryptic message after World Cup snub

After Junaid Khan, another Pakistan player — Faheem Ashraf — has expressed his displeasure over the recent snub from the World Cup squad. Both Junaid and Faheem along with Abid Ali were dropped from Pakistan’s final squad after making it to the preliminary squad last month. The trio made way for pace bowling duo Wahab Riaz and Mohammad Amir along with middle-order batsman Abid Ali.

After World Cup snub, Junaid caused a stir in the cricketing fraternity by posting a picture of himself on Twitter, showing his mouth covered by black tape. While Junaid did not directly attack the selectors or the team-management, he pretty much made his intentions clear. But unlike Junaid, Faheem was not so extreme with his protest but just posted a cryptic tweet. Instead of showing any kind of protest, the allrounder just said that he has faith in almighty as he tweeted:

“My life goes the way Allah has planned but not the ways I have planned. Surely Allah is the best of planners. Thanks to Allah for everything.”

Faheem made it to Pakistan’s World Cup preliminary squad on the back of a fine show in this year’s Pakistan Super League. He had 21 wickets in the season, the second-highest tally. His high point came against Lahore Qalandars in Karachi, when he picked up 6 for 19, his best in the shortest format of the game.

Inzamam justifies selections

Pakistan’s chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq has justified the changes in the final Pakistan squad. The former Pakistan skipper pointed out Faheem and Junaid’s poor performance against England to back his claims.

“Junaid and Faheem had been originally preferred over a few other bowlers based on their recent performances and the investment we had made on them since 2017,” said Inzamam. “They had the opportunity to cement their World Cup spots, but they were well below-par in the series against England even though they were up against the difficult challenge of bowling on placid and batsmen-friendly wickets.

“After it became obvious that the bat is likely to dominate the ball in the World Cup, we revisited our strategy and reverted to the pace of Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz,” he added.

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