Kevin Pietersen questions why Pakistan didn’t pick Ahmed Shehzad for Bangladesh T20Is

World No.1 T20I side Pakistan will next play Bangladesh in a three-match series at home starting January 24. After Sri Lanka, Bangladesh will be undertaking a full-fledged tour of the country that remained sidelined as an international host for a long time. Bangladesh players were not eager to travel to Pakistan initially and the tour received the nod after a lot of back-channel talks.

Pakistan on Thursday picked their 15-man squad led by Babar Azam who took over as the captain only recently. The Men in Green lost their to the Lankans at home recently and to Australia Down Under and will need a solid performance against Bangladesh to live up to their reputations in the 20-over format.

However, not well were happy with Pakistan’s team selection even though veterans Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez were recalled besides pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi. Haris Rauf, who has been a sensation with the ball in this year’s Big Bash League in Australia, was also picked for the Lahore-based series. The hosts made as many as seven changes to their last squad that toured Australia last November.

Former England captain Kevin Pietersen did not hide his dissatisfaction over the fact that batsman Ahmed Shehzad was not picked in the squad despite being among runs in domestic cricket.

“Just seen the team that PAKISTAN have picked to play Bangladesh. How on this planet can @iamahmadshazhad NOT be in that squad??? His PSL numbers and domestic number are so much better than the batter picked ahead of him!” the former batsman said. He called it “STUPID!”

Just seen the team that PAKISTAN have picked to play Bangladesh.

How on this planet can @iamahmadshazhad NOT be in that squad???

His PSL numbers and domestic number are so much better than the batter picked ahead of him!

STUPID!

— Kevin Pietersen🦏 (@KP24) January 16, 2020

Ahmed Shehzad is in good nick in first-class cricket

Shehzad, who last played for Pakistan against Sri Lanka in a T20I but managed only 13, is currently in good nick in first-class cricket. In his previous game, he hit two hundreds in both innings for Central Punjab against Southern Punjab in Quaid-e-Azam Trophy in Karachi.

For Pakistan, the 28-year-old right-hand batsman has played 59 T20Is to score 1,471 runs at a strike rate of nearly 115 and one hundred. Besides, he has played in 13 Tests and 81 ODIs to score over 3500 with nine hundreds.

Watch: Irfan Pathan’s interview post his retirement