Shahid Afridi: “Malik is the spine of the side. With a World Cup coming up, he should have been in the side”
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Legendary Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi has slammed the national selectors for ignoring veteran cricketer Shoaib Malik for the upcoming series against South Africa.
Malik wasn’t picked for the recent tour of New Zealand either, and this shocked Afridi as he considers Malik to be “the spine of the side”.
He added that with the 2021 T20 World Cup set to be played in India in October, Malik should be included in Pakistan’s team as he is a useful asset.
“Malik is the spine of the side. With a World Cup coming up, he should have been in the side,” Afridi was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Pakistan’s series against South Africa, which will consist of two Tests and three T20 Internationals, will start on January 26 and conclude on February 14.
Pakistan’s squad for the South Africa series: Abid Ali, Abdullah Shafique, Imran Butt, Azhar Ali, Babar Azam (captain), Fawad Alam, Kamran Ghulam, Agha Salman, Saud Shakeel, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (vice-captain), Sarfaraz Ahmed, Nauman Ali, Sajid Khan, Yasir Shah, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Tabish Khan
Myopic, who ever put this list together. To not include Hanif, Majid, Fazal or Kardar beggers belief. You are dishonouring these giants name by their exclusion.