Mohammad Wasim: “When you have likes of Hasan Ali and Mir Hamza and then you prefer all-rounders or debutants over them – that’s strange”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan chief selector Mohammad Wasim admitted he finds it “strange” that the pace duo of Hasan Ali and Mir Hamza were not given priority when it came to selection during the recent three-match Test series against Australia.
He particularly focused on the first Test in Perth, where Pakistan opted to pick debutants Aamer Jamal and Khurram Shahzad over them.
Even though both of them fared well in that match and Jamal went on to be the team’s highest wicket-taker in the series with 18 at an average of 20.44, Wasim believes that the men in green should have gone with more experienced players like Hasan and Hamza.
“When you have likes of Hasan Ali and Mir Hamza and then you prefer all-rounders or debutants over them – that’s strange,” he told Geo News.
Hasan and Hamza were picked for the second and third Tests, and finished with two wickets at an average of 91 and seven wickets at an average of 20.71 respectively.
Pakistan went on to lose 3-0 against Australia and are now involved in a five-match T20I series against New Zealand, where they trail 3-0.
The fourth T20I will be held on January 19 in Christchurch.
Pakistan Squad for New Zealand T20I Series: Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain), Aamer Jamal, Abbas Afridi, Azam Khan (wicketkeeper), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Usama Mir and Zaman Khan
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