Rashid Latif: “PCB showed me records of Faheem Ashraf, I asked them if he had such good records, why wasn’t he awarded with a central contract? Why wasn’t he part of the squad in tours of Australia, Zimbabwe or South Africa?”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman Rashid Latif has questioned why all-rounder Faheem Ashraf wasn’t given a central contract or picked earlier if he was included in the squad for the 2025 Champions Trophy.
Latif noted that the current selection criteria is flawed as players are returning out of the blue.
He pointed out that if Faheem was being considered for selection, why wasn’t the 31-year-old part of the Pakistan team for their limited overs series against Australia, Zimbabwe and South Africa.
“PCB showed me records of Faheem Ashraf, I asked them if he had such good records, why wasn’t he awarded with a central contract? Why wasn’t he part of the squad in tours of Australia, Zimbabwe or South Africa?” Latif was quoted as saying by PakPassion on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Players are not wrong, the selection process is wrong. We think it will change when chairmen change, but their work is the same! Some players were sitting on this same channel, a big event came and they were selected, the chairman was Zaka Ashraf. Now under Mohsin Naqvi same thing has happened.”
Faheem made his comeback in the ODI tri-series against New Zealand and South Africa, where he scored 22 runs in the one game he played.
He was part of Pakistan’s squad for the Champions Trophy, but wasn’t part of the playing XI for any of the games.
The men in green crashed out in the group stage of the tournament as they lost to New Zealand and India.
Their final match against Bangladesh was abandoned due to rain.
Pakistan are now involved in a limited overs series against New Zealand, which consists of five T20Is and three ODIs.
The men in green are 2-0 down in the T20I series going into the 3rd T20I on March 21 in Auckland.
Faheem was not picked in Pakistan’s T20I squad, but was selected for the upcoming ODIs.
Pakistan Squad for T20I Series against New Zealand: Hasan Nawaz, Omair Yousuf, Mohammad Haris, Abdul Samad, Salman Ali Agha (captain), Irfan Khan Niazi, Khushdil Shah, Shadab Khan, Abbas Afridi, Jahandad Khan, Mohammad Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Sufiyan Muqeem, Abrar Ahmed, Usman Khan
Pakistan Squad for ODI Series against New Zealand: Mohammad Rizwan (captain), Salman Ali Agha, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Akif Javed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Imam-ul-Haq, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Irfan Khan Niazi, Naseem Shah, Sufiyan Muqeem, Tayyab Tahir
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