Mohammad Wasim reveals the reason behind Mohammad Hafeez's omission from the T20I squad against South Africa

On January 31, Sunday, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced the 20-member squad for the upcoming three-match T20I series against South Africa, starting from February 11 in Lahore. One notable omission from the squad that stunned the cricket fans was of right-handed batsman Mohammad Hafeez. Hafeez was the leading scorer for Pakistan in the shortest format of the game in 2020 and was expected to replicate the same performance in 2021 too.

However, the selectors decided to leave out their main all-rounder after Hafeez’s disagreement with the Pakistan board. Hafeez, who is currently playin

g in the T10 Abu Dhabi league didn’t wish to leave the franchise cricket mid-way and wanted the permission to join the bio-bubble of the Pakistan team on February 5, something the PCB was unwilling to agree to.

While announcing the squad, Chief Selector Mohammad Wasim revealed the reasons for Hafeez’s absence saying, “Hafeez is in prolific form and he would have been part of the squad if he was available. Unfortunately, he won’t be able to join the bio-bubble [due to participation in T10 League] by February 3 which is why we have not considered him for the series.

“Following the Covid-19 protocols is mandatory for everyone involved. Asif Ali is also playing T10 League but he has agreed to join the bubble by February 3,” he said as  quoted by Cricket Pakistan.

Players dropped by Pakistan apart from Mohammad Hafeez

Apart from Mohammad Hafeez, other notable omissions from the squad against South Africa are Imad Wasim, Wahab Riaz, and Shadab Khan. Wasim has a family issue while Riaz has been dropped and Shadab who led Pakistan in New Zealand T20Is is once again injured.

Among others, Fakhar Zaman has also been left out which is a surprising move. The southpaw was not able to travel to New Zealand due to his illness and now hasn’t been considered it seems.

While many veteran players have been left, Zafar Gohar, Amad Butt, Zahid Mehmood and Danish Aziz have been added in the squad after their splendid performance in the domestic circuit.

Pakistan T20I squad for South Africa T20Is: Babar Azam (c), Haider Ali, Khushdil Shah, Hussain Talat, Danish Aziz, Asif Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Zafar Gohar, Faheem Ashraf, Aamer Yamin, Amad Butt, Mohammad Rizwan, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Hasan Ali, Usman Qadir, Zahid Mehmood