Rashid Latif: “If you have made up your mind that you are going to treat him like this, then you are preparing a second Mohammad Amir”
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman Rashid Latif has said the team management need to stop treating spin-bowling all-rounder Imad Wasim like Mohammad Amir.
Amir recently retired from international cricket and claimed that he was being “mentally tortured” by the PCB and felt that the current team management were deliberately snubbing him for selection.
Latif’s comments come after Imad was rested for the third T20 International against New Zealand.
He questioned why Imad didn’t play, saying it will have hurt his confidence.
“Team management have shaken Imad’s confidence by benching him in the third T20I. There is no replacement for Imad Wasim in the team. In the previous match [second T20I], Imad was the last to be handed the ball. In batting as well, he has gone below Faheem Ashraf in the order,” Latif said in a YouTube video as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.
“A player should be given respect, not because he is a senior player, but because of his performance. Imad has still not got the respect he deserves or his desired number [in the batting order] since he made his international debut. Yet, whenever he gets a little bit of time in the middle, he performs.
“His economy rate in T20s is amazing and you are trying to sideline him. The next T20 World Cup is in India, where Imad could be very effective. If you have made up your mind that you are going to treat him like this, then you are preparing a second Mohammad Amir.”
Imad will now travel to Australia to represent the Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash League (BBL).
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