Wahab Riaz: “I would rather have Usama Mir in place of either of those two”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Wahab Riaz, the newly-appointed Pakistan chief selector, said he would prefer to pick Usama Mir over the current spin duo of Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz.
Wahab’s support for Mir could be an indication that the 27-year-old will be given more chances to prove his worth in the future.
It also suggests that Shadab and Nawaz’s spots in the team are no longer safe, especially after their dismal performances in the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup.
Shadab, who is the first-choice spinner, took two wickets in six matches at an average of 118.50 and an economy rate of 6.23.
Nawaz, meanwhile, finished with two wickets in five games at an average of 111.50 and an economy rate of 5.89.
As for Mir, he picked up four wickets in four matches at an average of 62 and an economy rate of 7.08.
“I would rather have Usama Mir in place of either of those two,” Wahab was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Pakistan kicked off their World Cup campaign with victories over the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before they stumbled against India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
Despite bouncing back to defeat Bangladesh and New Zealand, they were unable to progress to the semi-finals.
The men in green finished in disappointing fashion as they lost their last group stage game against England by 93 runs.
Pakistan’s next assignment will be a three-match Test series against Australia, but Mir, Shadab and Nawaz were all not included in the 18-man squad.
The first Test between Pakistan and Australia will get underway on December 14 in Perth.
Pakistan Squad for Australia Test Series: Shan Masood (captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Shah Afridi