Tauseef Ahmed: “Azhar has so many performances for Pakistan that we can’t ignore it, but everyone has their time”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan spinner Tauseef Ahmed said it’s time for veteran batsman Azhar Ali to go from the Test team as he needs a break to rediscover his form.
He acknowledged that Azhar has done a lot for the team and had many memorable performances, but with other players scoring plenty of runs, the 37-year-old can’t keep occupying a spot in the top order.
In Pakistan’s two-Test series against Sri Lanka in July, Azhar only featured in one of the matches, but made scores of just 3 and 6.
“Azhar has so many performances for Pakistan that we can’t ignore it, but everyone has their time,” Tauseef told Cricket Pakistan.
The men in green are now featuring in a T20 tri-series that also involves New Zealand and Bangladesh.
Pakistan will then play in the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia, which starts on October 16.
Pakistan’s Squad for T20 Tri-Series against New Zealand and Bangladesh: Babar Azam (capt), Shadab Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Iftikhar Ahmed, Asif Ali, Haider Ali, Mohammad Hasnain, Shan Masood, Mohammad Nawaz, Usman Qadir, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Khushdil Shah, Naseem Shah, Mohammad Wasim Jr
Pakistan’s 2022 T20 World Cup squad: Babar Azam (capt), Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jr, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Shan Masood, Usman Qadir
Reserves:Â Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Haris, Shahnawaz Dahani