Shahid Afridi: “Honestly, I think it would have been a tough decision for the selection committee to bench Usama. They must have seen that Shadab, Imad, and Iftikhar are their spinning options. Agha Salman also bowls, and Saim Ayub does too”
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Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi believes it “would have been a tough decision” for the national selectors to overlook spinner Usama Mir following his return to form.
Mir had been in the Pakistan team previously, but lost his place due to his inconsistent performances.
However, the 28-year-old bounced back brilliantly in the 2024 Pakistan Super League (PSL), where he finished as the highest wicket-taker with 24 wickets in 12 matches for the Multan Sultans at an average of 15.87 and an economy rate of 8.13.
After PSL 9, Mir was picked for Pakistan’s five-match T20I series against New Zealand and took three wickets in two games at an average of 21.33 and an economy rate of eight.
However, he was then ignored for the T20I series against Ireland and England.
Afridi noted that the selectors’ decision not to pick Mir must have been swayed by the fact that there are so many spinners in the team, including some part-time options.
“Honestly, I think it would have been a tough decision for the selection committee to bench Usama. They must have seen that Shadab, Imad, and Iftikhar are their spinning options. Agha Salman also bowls, and Saim Ayub does too. So there are a lot of options. So maybe Usama was benched because he was not performing very well,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Pakistan triumphed 2-1 in their three-match T20I series against Ireland.
They are now playing a four-match T20I series against England and find themselves 1-0 down after losing the second game by 23 runs.
After that, Pakistan will take part in the 2024 T20 World Cup, which will be held 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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