Wahab Riaz: “We already have established players like Babar, Rizwan, Fakhar and highly talented young players like Saim Ayub. So Sharjeel was not considered keeping in mind the quality players available for selection”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan chief selector Wahab Riaz has admitted that he didn’t even consider selecting attacking opening batsman Sharjeel Khan for the ongoing five-match T20I series against New Zealand.
He noted that the team already have “established players” such as Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Fakhar Zaman, along with emerging talents like Saim Ayub.
As a result of this, Wahab opted not to pick Sharjeel, who has been performing well in domestic cricket.
“We already have established players like Babar, Rizwan, Fakhar and highly talented young players like Saim Ayub. So Sharjeel was not considered keeping in mind the quality players available for selection,” the former left-arm seamer was quoted as saying by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) website.
Pakistan lost their first three T20Is against New Zealand and will now look to pick up a consolation win in the fourth match, which will take place 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
[TS_Poll id=”18″]