Ahmed Shehzad: “You have included Usman Khan in the team, so why have you included him? To gain sympathy? Run a good story, and sympathy will be gained”

Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani

Veteran Pakistan cricketer Ahmed Shehzad has questioned the selectors’ decision to include batsman Usman Khan in the national team.

Usman shot to fame during the 2024 Pakistan Super League (PSL), where he finished as the second-highest run-scorer with 430 runs in seven matches for the Multan Sultans, which included two centuries and two fifties, at an average of 107.50 and a strike-rate of 164.12.

He subsequently switched his allegiance from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Pakistan and made his international debut in the five-match T20I series against New Zealand, where he amassed 59 runs at an average of 14.75 and a strike-rate of 122.91.

The 29-year-old didn’t feature in the three-match T20I series against Ireland and hasn’t played in the first two games of the ongoing four-match T20I series against England.

Shehzad still doesn’t understand why Pakistan selected Usman, asking if it was simply to “gain sympathy” or to “run a good story”.

“You have included Usman Khan in the team, so why have you included him? To gain sympathy? Run a good story, and sympathy will be gained,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.

Following the England series, Usman and the rest of the Pakistan team will be in action in the 2024 T20 World Cup, which will take place in the West Indies and United States of America from June 1 to 29.

Pakistan’s first T20 World Cup game will be against the United States of America in Dallas on June 6.

Pakistan Squad for Ireland and England T20I Series: Babar Azam (capt), Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan

Pakistan Squad for 2024 T20 World Cup: Babar Azam (capt), Saim Ayub, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Azam Khan (wk), Usman Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Amir, Abbas Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed

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