'There must be something else behind the scenes' - Nasser Hussain on Alex Hales' omission for Pakistan ODI series

Team England had to announce a revised squad for their white-ball series against Pakistan as seven members from their party tested positive for the COVID-19. While there are nine uncapped players in the fresh squad, one notable absentee from the list is Alex Hales. The hard-hitting opener has fallen off the radar of England’s limited-overs setup due to a failed drug test and his attitude within the team.

But that is over three years ago and England moved on and went with Jonny Bairstow at the top. Meanwhile, Hales kept performing well in the T20 franchise cricket across the globe. England’s white-ball skipper Eoin Morgan spoke of Hales that he is still in the scheme of things, but for now, the right-hand batter has to wait for his chance in the team.

Cricketer-turned-commentator Nasser Hussain has now opened about Hales’ omission from the squad despite players like Zak Crawley, Danny Briggs, and Ben Duckett being named in the revised 18-member squad. Hussain feels it’s not because of failed drugs test and it is due to the team hierarchy, which does not want him back in the team.

“The one glaring absentee from this new-look England squad is Alex Hales. All I can say is that there must be something else at play here — because his non-selection cannot just be about those failed drugs tests a couple of years ago. As we have seen with other recent indiscretions, people forgive, forget and move on. So there must be some other reason those involved with the team hierarchy do not want him back. To use one of their terms, he is now ‘unselectable’ and you must think that under this present regime, the door is firmly closed on him,” Nasser Hussain wrote in his column for Daily Mail.

“From a cricketing point of view — and that is all I can comment on because I have never shared a dressing room with him, nor do I know him — that is a real shame because he is an incredible white-ball batting talent. But, as I say, there must be something else behind the scenes because these are sensible men in charge who will not have taken such decisions lightly,” Nasser added.

England Cricket Board (ECB) recently even excused Ollie Robinson for his past historic sexist and racist tweets, but Hales is yet to be included in the limited-overs scheme of things after playing international cricket way back in 2018.

Ben Stokes to lead the team in the Pakistan ODI series

Ben Stokes is back after missing the last series against Sri Lanka and is the captain of the newly announced squad for Pakistan ODI seires. The all-rounder’s role will be crucial as he has to lead a fairly inexperienced squad.

England’s fresh squad: Ben Stokes (captain), Jake Ball, Danny Briggs, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Lewis Gregory, Tom Helm, Will Jacks, Dan Lawrence, Saqib Mahmood, Dawid Malan, Craig Overton, Matt Parkinson, David Payne, Phil Salt, John Simpson, James Vince