Shoaib Akhtar: “Agha Salman should bench himself”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan fast bowling great Shoaib Akhtar has called on T20I captain Salman Ali Agha to “bench himself” as he has not been batting good enough.
Salman has been especially disappointing in T20Is, where his batting form has taken a major hit.
During Pakistan’s three-match T20I series against South Africa, he failed to have much of an impact as he mustered 35 runs at an average of 17.50 and a strike-rate of 106.06.
He also captained the men in green in their T20I tri-series against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, and finished with 79 runs in five matches, which included a career-best 63 not out, at an average of 26.33 and a strike-rate of 125.39.
Assessing Salman’s recent performances, Akhtar feels the 32-year-old has fallen well short of expectations.
“Agha Salman should bench himself,” Akhtar was quoted as saying by journalist Farid Khan on X, formerly known as Twitter.
After the T20I tri-series, Salman was in action in the President’s Cup Grade-I (1-Day) competition and made 88 runs in four games for the State Bank of Pakistan at an average of 22.
Next up for him will be Pakistan’s T20I tour of Sri Lanka, which will consist of three games that will be played in Dambulla from January 7 to 11.
Pakistan Squad for Sri Lanka T20I Series: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abdul Samad, Abrar Ahmad, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Khawaja Nafay (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Nawaz, Salman Mirza, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan (wicketkeeper), Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan (wicketkeeper), Usman Tariq
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