Mohammad Hafeez: “On what performance was Faheem Ashraf included in the team? On what basis was Usman Khan selected for One-Day cricket? And what performance justified Saud Shakeel’s recall?”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan cricketer Mohammad Hafeez has admitted he doesn’t understand why all-rounder Faheem Ashraf and the batting duo of Usman Khan and Saud Shakeel were selected for the 2025 Champions Trophy.
Ashraf and Shakeel were recalled to the team, while Usman had yet to make his ODI debut at that point.
During the tournament, neither Ashraf nor Usman played any games.
As for Shakeel, he scored 68 runs in two matches, which included a top score of 62, at an average of 34.
Considering Ashraf and Usman weren’t used and Shakeel made his ODI comeback after nearly two years, Hafeez wants to know what performances convinced the national selectors to pick the trio in the first place.
“On what performance was Faheem Ashraf included in the team? On what basis was Usman Khan selected for One-Day cricket? And what performance justified Saud Shakeel’s recall? If, according to the selectors, this was the best team, then how did these players make it? This is not the best team,” he was quoted as saying by TOK Sports on X, formerly known as Twitter.
After the Champions Trophy, Pakistan embarked on a white-ball tour of New Zealand and Usman was the only one out of the trio to play in the five-match T20I series as he made seven runs in one game.
In the three ODIs that followed, he amassed 51 runs in two matches at an average of 25.50, while Ashraf accumulated 76 runs in two games, which included a career-best 73, at an average of 38.
Shakeel, meanwhile, did not feature in the ODI series.
Once the tour of New Zealand concluded, all three players had been involved in the 2025 Pakistan Super League (PSL) before the tournament was postponed due to Pakistan’s ongoing border tensions with India.
Shakeel, who was captaining the Quetta Gladiators, struck 203 runs in nine matches, which included a top score of 59, at an average of 33.83 and a strike-rate of 123.78.
He had also taken four wickets at an average of 15.75 and an economy rate of seven.
Faheem was playing for the Gladiators as well and scored 74 runs in nine games at an average of 14.80 and a strike-rate of 113.84.
Bowling-wise, the 31-year-old had claimed 13 wickets at an average of 17.84 and an economy rate of 10.87.
As for Usman, he had been representing the Multan Sultans and made 213 runs in eight matches, which included a top score of 61, at an average of 26.62 and a strike-rate of 147.91.
PSL 10 is set to resume on May 17 and end on May 25.
Quetta Gladiators Squad for PSL 10:
- Platinum: Faheem Ashraf, Finn Allen, Mark Chapman
- Diamond: Abrar Ahmed, Mohammad Amir, Rilee Rossouw
- Gold: Akeal Hosein, Saud Shakeel (captain), Mohammad Wasim Jnr
- Silver: Haseebullah Khan, Khawaja Nafay, Kyle Jamieson, Khurram Shahzad, Usman Tariq
- Emerging: Mohammad Zeeshan, Hasan Nawaz
- Supplementary: Danish Aziz, Kusal Mendis, Sean Abbott, Shoaib Malik
Multan Sultans Squad for PSL 10:
- Platinum: Michael Bracewell, Mohammad Rizwan (captain), Usama Mir
- Diamond: David Willey, Iftikhar Ahmed, Usman Khan
- Gold: Chris Jordan, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain
- Silver: Akif Javed, Gudakesh Motie, Josh Little, Faisal Akram, Tayyab Tahir
- Emerging: Ubaid Shah, Shahid Aziz
- Supplementary: Johnson Charles, Muhammad Amir Barki, Shai Hope, Yasir Khan
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