Former Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi believes Shoaib Malik would have solved the team's longstanding problem with the middle-order in next month's World T20 in Australia. The seasoned batter was not recalled to the squad despite considerable speculation as Pakistan named a 15-member team for the T20 showpiece event on Thursday.
Malik has not played since last year's World Cup. His omission was not well-received by many fans due to his importance to Pakistan in the middle overs.
"He has played cricket across the globe and has done well everywhere. He is a top choice for every franchise. He is also supremely fit. Babar Azam would have gotten a lot of support if Malik had been there, even if he was on the bench," Afridi told Samaa TV.
"The selectors should have communicated with him if he wasn't a part of their plans," he added.
{{/usCountry}}"The selectors should have communicated with him if he wasn't a part of their plans," he added.
{{/usCountry}}Afridi also spoke about Malik's controversial tweet after Pakistan's defeat in the recently-concluded T20 Asia Cup. Malik had slammed the team’s selection policy by tweeting, "When will we come out from friendship, liking and disliking culture. Allah always helps the honest."
Afridi said Malik could have avoided speaking publicly about the matter and waited before the squad was announced. “I think Malik should not have posted such a tweet. He should have waited for the team's announcement. I think he deserves to be a part of the squad,” he said.
For the seven-match T20I series against England, the selectors named all the players who travel for the T20 World Cup except Fakhar Zaman and Shaheen Shah Afridi. In their place, they picked Northern's all-rounder Aamir Jamal and Sindh's mystery spinner Abrar Ahmed. Afridi said Pakistan could have added Malik to the England contingent.
“Pakistan could have added (Shoaib) Malik to the squad for the England series. They could have tried him out for three or four matches to assess his performance. We need a middle-order batter, and Malik has a lot of experience playing in that role,” said the former all-rounder.
Pakistan squad for T20 World Cup: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Asif Ali, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Junior, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood and Usman Qadir.
Travelling reserves: Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Haris and Shahnawaz Dahani.