Inzamam-ul-Haq: “If they didn’t want to shuffle the batting order then why was Shoaib Malik not considered? He has the experience”
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq has asked why veteran all-rounder Shoaib Malik was not picked in the T20 World Cup team when it was first announced.
Malik was not even included when the changes were made, but instead came in as a replacement for big-hitting batsman Sohaib Maqsood, who was ruled out of the tournament with a back injury.
Malik has been in excellent form as of late and bats in the middle order, which has been a problem for the men in green for quite some time.
In the National T20 Cup, the 39-year-old scored 225 runs in seven matches for Central Punjab, which included a top score of 85 not out, at an average of 75 and a strike-rate of 149.
“If they didn’t want to shuffle the batting order then why was Shoaib Malik not considered? He has the experience,” Inzamam said on his YouTube channel as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.
Pakistan will begin their T20 World Cup campaign against India on October 24 in Dubai.
Pakistan T20 World Cup Squad: Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan (vc), Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shoaib Malik
Pakistan T20 World Cup Reserves: Khushdil Shah, Shahnawaz Dahani, Usman Qadir