Shahid Afridi: “I would like to see Salman Ali Agha (he is not part of the T20 World Cup squad) come into the side in place of Usman Khan”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Legendary Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi believes middle order batsman Salman Ali Agha should replace Usman Khan in the T20I team.
Usman switched allegiance from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Pakistan and was drafted into the national team following a stellar performance in the 2024 Pakistan Super League (PSL).
In PSL 9, he was 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.
However, the 29-year-old from Karachi hasn’t been able to replicate his PSL success in international cricket as he has mustered 117 runs in 10 T20Is at an average of 14.62 and a strike-rate of 128.57.
Most recently, Usman featured in the 2024 T20 World Cup and accumulated 20 runs in four games at an average of 6.66 and a strike-rate of 90.90.
Given how he has failed to have an impact for Pakistan, Afridi wants to see Salman get the chance to make his T20I debut and show what can do in the shortest format.
“I would like to see Salman Ali Agha (he is not part of the T20 World Cup squad) come into the side in place of Usman Khan,” he wrote in his ICC column as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.
Pakistan lost to the United States of America and India in the T20 World Cup before bouncing back to take down Canada and Ireland.
Even though they won those two games, it was not enough to secure them a spot in the Super Eights.
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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