Mohammad Hafeez: “I was personally very shocked when Iftikhar and Saud Shakeel were excluded from the ODI squad”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Mohammad Hafeez, the former all-rounder, admitted he was shocked when middle order batsmen Iftikhar Ahmed and Saud Shakeel “were excluded from the ODI squad” for the five-match series against New Zealand.
While Iftikhar eventually ended up being drafted into the squad, Shakeel was never selected for the series, which the men in green won 4-1.
In the two games he played, Iftikhar amassed 122 runs, which included a top score of 94 not out, at an average of 122 and a strike-rate of 129.78.
“I was personally very shocked when Iftikhar and Saud Shakeel were excluded from the ODI squad,” Hafeez was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Pakistan are now playing a two-Test series against Sri Lanka and hold a 1-0 lead after winning the first Test in Galle by four wickets.
The second Test is currently being held in Colombo and began on Monday.
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