Usama Mir: “It was a mystery to me, why the mystery spinner wasn’t given a chance at the T20 World Cup”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Usama Mir has admitted that “it was a mystery to me” why Pakistan mystery spinner Abrar Ahmed was not given an opportunity to play a single game in the 2024 T20 World Cup.
Abrar was included in the squad, along with veteran spinners Shadab Khan and Imad Wasim, who came out of retirement to feature in the tournament.
However, even though Shadab failed to take a wicket in the four matches he played and Imad took three wickets in three games, all of which came in the last group stage match against Ireland, Abrar continued to sit on the sidelines.
Considering that the 26-year-old had bamboozled many of the world’s top batsmen, Mir conceded that it was a shock that the Karachi native was included in the playing XI even once.
“It was a mystery to me, why the mystery spinner wasn’t given a chance at the T20 World Cup,” he was quoted as saying by respected journalist Saj Sadiq on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Abrar was recently involved in Pakistan’s two-match Test series against Bangladesh and took one wicket in one match at an average of 123.
He then played for the Stallions in the Champions One-Day Cup, which was a domestic 50-over tournament held in Faisalabad, and claimed five wickets in four games at an average of 33.
Abrar is now featuring in Pakistan’s three-Test series against England, which got underway on October 7 in Multan.
Pakistan Squad for 1st Test against England: Shan Masood (captain), Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Salman Ali Agha, Aamer Jamal, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Abrar Ahmed
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