Pakistan batsman Sohaib Maqsood: “I scored around 2,000 runs in domestic cricket before my comeback, but unfortunately played two innings at number three and was later dropped to number five in the batting order”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan batsman Sohaib Maqsood has voiced his frustration at being demoted from number three to five on the batting line-up after just two innings.
He felt as if he was not given enough time to really prove his worth, especially since he was making his comeback after scoring 2,000 runs in domestic cricket.
The 35-year-old last played for Pakistan in 2021, but has failed to earn a recall since then.
While he has not given up trying, the powerful hitter admitted that it was disappointing not to be given more time to show what he could do as a top order batsman.
“I scored around 2,000 runs in domestic cricket before my comeback, but unfortunately played two innings at number three and was later dropped to number five in the batting order,” he was quoted as saying by Geo News, according to Cricwick.
Maqsood recently played for Southern Punjab in the National T20 Cup, where he scored 91 runs in six matches, which included a top score of 61 not out, at an average of 22.75 and a strike-rate of 112.34.
The veteran batsman is not part of Pakistan’s squad for the ongoing T20 World Cup in Australia.
The men in green are still in the race to reach the semi-finals as they defeated South Africa by 33 runs via the D/L method on Thursday.
Their next game will be against Bangladesh on Sunday in Adelaide.
Pakistan’s 2022 T20 World Cup squad: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Asif Ali, Mohammad Haris, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Shan Masood
Reserves: Shahnawaz Dahani and Usman Qadir