Wasim Akram accused Pakistan of favoritism in selecting their team for the T20 World Cup 2022 and questioned the omission of Shoaib Malik for the Down Under event.
Pakistan narrowly lost to India in their opening match and then lost by a run to Zimbabwe, leaving their chances of qualifying from the knockout stages in the balance. They have to win all the remaining games and expect different results if they want to reach the semi-finals. Unsurprisingly, there was plenty of flak, with legendary former fast pitcher Akram questioning the team’s picks and criticizing Babar Azam for not being “smart” enough when it came to team picks.
Speaking of aryan sports Speaking at a panel discussion also attended by Malik, Akram said: “For the past year, all of us, including all of Pakistan, knew that the middle order is a bit weak and murky. Shoaib Malik is sitting here in front of us. The ultimate goal of the captain should be how to win the world championship. If I have to make a “donkey into a hero” for this, I will. I’m going to win the world championship. If I want Malik in the middle order, I’ll make sure and tell the team president that “I won’t run the team if I don’t put my player in the middle order.” But no one is like that.
“He (Babar) must be smarter. This is not a local team where you can have people you know, they are all good players. But if I were Babar, I would keep him (Malik) in the middle order. These are Australian playing fields, not the dead grounds of the United Arab Emirates, Sharjah or Pakistan.”
Malik has not played a T20I this year, his last appearance will be in November 2021 against Bangladesh. The former skipper has only played one T20I in Australia where he scored three runs.
Earlier in the year, Imad Wasim also questioned his own omission from the squad. Imad last played an international match in November 2021 when he played a T20I match against Australia and accused management of not picking him out of “personal displeasure”.
in conversation with PakPassion.net, he said, “If you don’t like my face, you should be brave enough to say so, and I’ll be fine with that!” Seriously, not choosing someone for the Pakistan team out of personal dislike is not only unfair to the player and his career, but also a disservice to our country as it deprives the services of a good player. Such measures will ultimately cost the country dearly and I urge coaches not to consider players’ personal likes and dislikes when choosing teams.”
Bet365 will stream all T20 World Cup matches live directly to your iPhone, iPad or Android device as well as your desktop computer. This means that all T20 World Cup games will be available to bet365 customers anywhere in the world.
Source: wisden.com
