Moin Khan: “There was no replacement for Babar and Rizwan, so why were they dropped? A personal grudge was carried out against Babar and Rizwan. The strike-rate of the others should also be considered”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan captain Moin Khan believes Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan were dropped from the T20I team as a “personal grudge” was carried out against them.
Both Azam and Rizwan missed multiple T20I series until Azam returned to the squad for the three-match T20I series against South Africa.
Rizwan, however, continues to be excluded from the side, much to Moin’s surprise.
The 54-year-old noted that Pakistan have no replacements for Azam and Rizwan, which is why the duo should continue to be in the selectors’ plans going forward.
“There was no replacement for Babar and Rizwan, so why were they dropped? A personal grudge was carried out against Babar and Rizwan. The strike-rate of the others should also be considered,” he was quoted as saying on Facebook.
After the South Africa series, Pakistan whitewashed Sri Lanka 3-0 in an ODI series.
Azam is now featuring in Pakistan’s T20I tri-series against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, where he has amassed 90 runs in four games, which includes a top score of 74, at an average of 22.50 and a strike-rate of 113.92.
Pakistan squad for Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe T20I Tri-Series: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abdul Samad, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan (wicketkeeper), Usman Tariq
Reserves: Haris Rauf, Sufiyan Muqeem