Ramiz Raja: “The exclusion of Abid [from the World Cup squad] was unjust”

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

Former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja believes that the decision to axe opener Abid Ali from the World Cup squad was “unjust”.

Abid was ousted from the side along with left-arm seamer Junaid Khan and all-rounder Faheem Ashraf.

In their place, Pakistan called up left-arm pace bowlers Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz, and big-hitting middle order batsman Asif Ali.

Abid made a superb 112 in his ODI debut against Australia in March, but he only featured in the final game of the recently concluded five-match ODI series against England, where he scored five runs.

Ramiz believes that Abid wasn’t even given a chance to prove his worth and make his presence felt with the bat against England.

“The exclusion of Abid [from the World Cup squad] was unjust,” he was quoted as saying by the Business Recorder. “He played only one match and was dropped as if the cricketing management didn’t want Abid to play, as it would have become a problem for Pakistan cricket if he had scored runs in the series, and there would have been pressure on [the selectors to choose] between Asif Ali and Shoaib Malik.”

Pakistan will play two World Cup warm-up games against Afghanistan and Bangladesh in Bristol and Cardiff on May 24 and 26 respectively.

They will then begin their World Cup campaign against the West Indies in Nottingham on May 31.

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