Misbah-ul-Haq: “I said we need him (Abrar). Both of our spinners are out of form. Back then he was not even selected in the 15-member squad, then how can we expect them to select him in the playing XI?”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq said the national team desperately need to give Abrar Ahmed more chances as their first-choice spinners “are out of form”.
Currently, Pakistan have been sticking with Shadab Khan and Imad Wasim as their go-to spinners in T20Is, but the former has not taken a wicket since the team’s five-match T20I series against New Zealand in April 2024.
In the 2024 T20 World Cup, he went wicketless in four games and didn’t even bowl in the matches against India and Canada.
As for Imad, he took three wickets in three matches at an average of 14.66 and an economy rate of four. However, it should be noted that all three of those wickets came in the final group stage game against Ireland.
Considering Shadab and Imad’s performances, Misbah believes it’s time for Pakistan to start utilising Abrar more often.
The 25-year-old mystery spinner made his T20I debut in the T20I series against New Zealand earlier this year and finished with two wickets in three games at an average of 23 and an economy rate of 5.75.
“I said we need him (Abrar). Both of our spinners are out of form. Back then he was not even selected in the 15-member squad, then how can we expect them to select him in the playing XI?” he was quoted as saying by Geo Super.
Pakistan lost to the United States of America and India in the 2024 T20 World Cup before bouncing back to defeat Canada and Ireland.
Even though they ended the group stage on a high, it wasn’t enough to see them through to 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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