Shahid Afridi: “There was a leg-spinner named Zahid Mahmood; where is he”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Shahid Afridi, the former big-hitting batsman, admitted he is confused about why Pakistan have completely forgotten all about leg-spinner Zahid Mahmood.
Mahmood had been in and around the national team for some time as he was tipped to be a quality spinner who could have a big impact.
On top of that, the 35-year-old was also performing well in domestic cricket, which led to the national selectors calling him up.
However, he hasn’t gotten the chance to feature in many games as he has played two Tests and taken 12 wickets at an average of 36.16.
He has also played four ODIs, where he has picked up four wickets at an average of 55.
As for his T20I career, the Dadu native has just taken part in one match and did well as he finished with three wickets at an average of 13.33.
Given how Pakistan built him up to be a major asset, Afridi conceded he is bamboozled by the fact that the national selectors moved on from Mahmood so quickly.
“There was a leg-spinner named Zahid Mahmood; where is he?” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
It should be noted that Mahmood is now playing for Multan Region in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, which is Pakistan’s first-class competition.
The Pakistan team have been doing well over the past few months as they beat Sri Lanka 2-0 in a Test series before taking down Afghanistan 3-0 in an ODI series.
Currently, they are involved in the Asia Cup, where they kicked off their campaign with a 238-run win over Nepal before being forced to share one point apiece with India as their match was rained off.
Despite this, the men in green advanced to the Super Fours and eased past Bangladesh by seven wickets.
Their flawless run was halted when they came up against India once again as they were thrashed by 228 runs.
Pakistan will be aiming to bounce back from that drubbing when they take on Sri Lanka on September 14 in Colombo.
Pakistan Squad for 2023 Asia Cup: Babar Azam (capt), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Saud Shakeel, Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Haris (wk), Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Shahnawaz Dahani, Zaman Khan.
Travelling reserve: Tayyab Tahir