Kamran Akmal: “What was Usman Qadir’s fault? What was Sajid Khan’s fault? What was Bilal Asif’s fault? All of them have taken five-wicket hauls and yet are out of the team”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal has admitted that he is unsure why the spin trio of Usman Qadir, Sajid Khan and Bilal Asif were all dropped from the national team.
Qadir was mainly utilised in T20Is, Sajid in Tests, and Asif in Tests and ODIs.
Even though all three of them showed a lot of potential, none of them were given long enough to cement their places in the national team.
In Akmal’s view, this is puzzling since the trio were all doing what was expected of them, which was to take wickets.
“What was Usman Qadir’s fault? What was Sajid Khan’s fault? What was Bilal Asif’s fault? All of them have taken five-wicket hauls and yet are out of the team,” he told Cricket Pakistan.
Pakistan recently played a two-Test series against Bangladesh and were beaten 2-0 despite playing both games in Rawalpindi.
Qadir is now playing for the Dolphins in the Champions One-Day Cup, which is a domestic 50-over competition being held in Faisalabad, and has taken four wickets in two matches at an average of 31.
The Pakistan team will return to action next month when they take on England in a three-match Test series from October 7 to 28 in Multan and Rawalpindi.
Pakistan Squad for 1st Test against England:Â Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Mir Hamza, Muhammad Hurraira, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicketkeeper), Shaheen Shah Afridi.