Inzamam-ul-Haq: “We have selected Shadab and Nawaz because we wanted continuity. The World Cup squad is planned for years ahead, and cannot be changed abruptly”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq defended his decision to include Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz in the team for the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup, saying he didn’t want to change things up.
Shadab and Nawaz had been out of form in the lead-up to the tournament and have not been able to bounce back, which has had an adverse impact on the men in green.
Shadab has only claimed two wickets in five games at an average of 90 and an economy rate of 6.42, while Nawaz has also picked up two wickets in the same number of matches, but at an average of 111.50 and an economy rate of 5.89.
But, since the players selected for the World Cup are identified years in advance, Inzamam insisted that dropping them would have been impossible.
“We have selected Shadab and Nawaz because we wanted continuity. The World Cup squad is planned for years ahead, and cannot be changed abruptly,” he was quoted as saying by NDTV.
Pakistan started their World Cup campaign with wins over the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before suffering four consecutive defeats against India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
Facing a dire situation, the men in green kept their World Cup semi-final hopes alive with a seven-wicket win over Bangladesh in Kolkata.
They will now go up against New Zealand on November 4 in Bengaluru.
Pakistan Squad for 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup: Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam (capt), Mohammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan, Usama Mir, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Hasan Ali
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