'It is very disappointing to hear that Ahmed Shehzad was not picked again for the national squad' - Abdul Razzaq
Shahzad, who had made a comeback during the home T20Is against Sri Lanka was omitted for the series against Australia after a couple of underwhelming performances.
It is fair to say that Pakistan cricket did not have the best of 2019. Not only did they underperform in One-day and Test match cricket, but it was their performances in the shortest format of the game left a lot to be desired. The No.1 ranked T20I side in the world proceeded to lose eight of the ten T20Is that they played in 2019; one of which was abandoned in Australia.
And, so with this being the year of T20 World Cup, the team-management rung in a plethora of changes for their upcoming three-match T20I series against Bangladesh. The likes of Mohammad Amir, Imam Ul Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Irfan, Haris Sohail, Asif Ali have all been dropped from the 15-man squad.
Pakistan picked three uncapped players in the form of Amad Butt, Ahsan Ali and new pace-bowling sensation- Haris Rauf- in the set-up for the series against Bangladesh while seasoned campaigners in Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik, who is coming off great campaigns in the Caribbean Premier League and the Bangladesh Premier League, have also been recalled.
Abdul Razzaq laments at the snub of Ahmed Shehzad from the T20I squad
As is the case with every team selection of Pakistan team, former players lashed out at selectors for not picking the cricketers, who according to them should have made the cut. Former all-rounder Abdul Razzaq is the latest to criticize the Misbah-ul-Haq-led selection committee for ignoring opener Ahmed Shehzad from the squad.
Shehzad, who had made a comeback during the home T20Is against Sri Lanka was omitted for the series against Australia after a couple of underwhelming performances.
Razzaq took to his Twitter account where he said, “It’s very disappointing to hear that @iamAhmadshahzad was not picked again for the national squad for the tour against BD. He has a good reputation against BD every time he plays against them so I think that such a talented player who is performing in domestic cricket.”
Shehzad, who recently featured for Central Punjab in the Qaid-e-Azam Trophy, racked up 463 runs in eight games at an average of 38.58 with two centuries and three fifties. He was also one of the prolific run-scorers in last year’s Pakistan Super League where he racked up 311 runs in 8 games at an average of 51.83 and a strike-rate of 126.93.
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