Wahab Riaz: “Babar Azam used to talk about adding experience in the team during press conferences but in the actual team there was no experience”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan left-arm speedster Wahab Riaz has called out Babar Azam for his hypocritical comments as captain.
The 37-year-old pointed out that Azam frequently spoke about adding experience to the team by picking senior players.
However, this never happened regularly as the men in green regularly selected younger players who the selectors felt had a bright future.
While a few veteran cricketers were picked over the years, not many of them are still in and around the national team.
This is something that has angered Wahab as he feels Azam gave off the impression that he wanted a side mixed with youth and experience, but, in actual fact, did the exact opposite and focused on picking younger players instead.
“Babar Azam used to talk about adding experience in the team during press conferences but in the actual team there was no experience,” he told Samaa News as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.
Wahab, who was named Punjab’s Sports Minister, was recently in action for the Khulna Tigers in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). He featured in seven matches and claimed 13 wickets, which included two four-wicket hauls, at an average of 14.07 and an economy rate of 6.90.
He will now play for the Peshawar Zalmi in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), which is the team Azam will captain.
Azam was traded to the Zalmi from the Karachi Kings in return for Pakistan power-hitter Haider Ali and all-rounder Shoaib Malik.
The Zalmi will actually begin their PSL 8 campaign with a match against the Kings on February 14.
Peshawar Zalmi Squad for PSL 8:Â Babar Azam, Rovman Powell, Bhanuka Rajapaksa (Sri Lanka), Mujeeb Ur Rehman, Sherfane Rutherford, Wahab Riaz, Arshad Iqbal, Danish Aziz, Mohammad Haris, Aamer Jamal, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Saim Ayub, Salman Irshad, Usman Qadir, Haseebullah Khan, Sufyan Muqeem, James Neesham, Khurram Shahzad, Haris Sohail and Richard Gleeson