Omission of some of the performers in Pakistan‘s domestic cricket from the squad for the first Test against England has once again irked former batsman Ahmed Shehzad, who slammed Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) selector Mohammad Yousuf in a video shared on social media.
Earlier this week, the PCB announced the Pakistan Test squad and decided to retain under-fire Shan Masood as the captain.But some of the decisions taken to pick the 15 players haven’t gone down well with former players, including Shehzad.
Shehzad was particulary livid about leaving out batsman Kamran Ghulam on the premise of “selection policy’s emphasis on consistency and continuity, and the belief that 15 players are sufficient for a Test”.
“You won’t see a single player (in the Test squad) who has given performances,” said Shehzad. “…Beda garak kar diya hai yario-dostiyo mein Pakistan cricket team ka (favouritism and friendships have destroyed Pakistan cricket).”
“Koi sharam aur khauf hai aapko (do you have any shame)?”
He alleged that it is unfair to others the way Abdullah Shafique has been continuously promoted despite inconsistent performances.
“How he (Shafique) has been fast-tracked, it is not a normal thing…Who is behind him? Who is it making sure that he is not left out of the team?” Shehzad asked.
“He (Shafique) scored a double century way back. Even the trees of that era have dried, and you are not putting him out of the team!”
Ghulam, who was part of the Test series against Bangladesh, is yet to make his Test debut. His first-class numbers make for an impressive read at 4377 runs in 98 innings at an average of 49.17, including 16 centuries and 20 fifities.
He is not part of the squad for the first Test against England in Multan.
“How can you drop Kamran Ghulam?” Shehzad further asked. “What logic will you give for this? You have been unfair, Mohammad Yousuf saab. And you have been even more unfair by selecting Abdullah Shafique.”
“The (PCB) management poeple are fooling the chairman (Mohsin Naqvi),” Shehzad added. “This is not the way to move forward.”
He slammed the 50-over tournament, Champions Cup, as a distracting tactic and called it the “Dhoka Cup”.
“They are just trying to distract the public and media by giving content (through Champions Cup), so that the focus shifts to this.”
Pakistan squad for first Test vs England
Shan Masood (c), Saud Shakeel (vc), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Huraira, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Shaheen Shah Afridi