Wasim Akram: “In the last 20 matches, his average bowling is 100 and his average batting is 9. He came out of the blue”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Legendary Pakistan left-arm seamer Wasim Akram was shocked that all-rounder Faheem Ashraf was picked for the 2025 Champions Trophy.
Wasim noted that the 31-year-old has a bowling average of 100 and a batting average of nine when taking his last 20 matches into account.
Faheem was recently involved in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) and scored 102 runs in 11 games for Fortune Barishal, which included a top score of 54 not out, at an average of 34 and a strike-rate of 231.81.
Additionally, he was the joint second-highest wicket-taker with 20 wickets at an average of 13.90 and an economy rate of 7.12.
Despite his performance in the BPL, the Sultan of Swing feels Faheem’s selection “came out of the blue”.
“What else can I say now? I haven’t thought about the team announcement yet. But a couple of things that I have thought about. For instance, Faheem Ashraf is in the team. I wish him all the best. [He is] a talented cricketer. But in the last 20 matches, his average bowling is 100 and his average batting is 9. He came out of the blue,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Pakistan are now taking on New Zealand and South Africa in an ODI tri-series.
After it concludes, the men in green will take part in the Champions Trophy, which will be played from February 19 to March 9.
Pakistan Squad for 2025 Champions Trophy: Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel, Tayyab Tahir, Faheem Ashraf, Khushdil Shah, Salman Ali Agha, Usman Khan, Abrar Ahmed, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah