Mohammad Amir: “I was looking forward to see Ihsanullah bowl in [the] NZ series but he has been benched”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Mohammad Amir has expressed his anger towards the fact that fellow Pakistan fast bowler Ihsanullah was benched for a majority of the limited overs series against New Zealand.
He admitted he couldn’t understand the decision behind it, especially considering the 20-year-old’s red-hot form in the lead-up to the series.
Ihsanullah was the second-highest wicket-taker in the 2023 Pakistan Super League (PSL), claiming 22 wickets in 12 matches for the Multan Sultans at an average of 15.77 and an economy rate of 7.59.
He then went on to pick up six wickets in three T20Is against Afghanistan at an average of 11.50 and an economy rate of 6.36.
As for the New Zealand series, he played one out of five T20Is and one out of five ODIs, going wicketless in both matches.
In Amir’s view, he feels that the Pakistan team management hurt Ihsanullah’s confidence and momentum by not selecting him for more matches during the New Zealand series.
“I was looking forward to see Ihsanullah bowl in [the] NZ series but he has been benched,” the 31-year-old from Gujjar Khan said on Twitter.
Pakistan will now take on Sri Lanka in a two-Test series, which will be held in Galle and Colombo from July 16 to 28.
Pakistan Squad for Sri Lanka Test Series:Â Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (vc & wk), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Muhammad Huraira, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Shan Masood