Former captain Shahid Afridi was surprised by the inclusion of pacer Hasan Ali in Pakistan’s 18-member squad that will feature in the T20I series against Ireland and England.
Hasan, who last played T20I against Sri Lanka in Asia Cup 2022, was announced as part of the squad over the likes of Usama Mir, Mohammad Wasim Jr., Zaman Khan and others who have been a regular part of Pakistan over the last two to three years.
Afridi, who led Pakistan to 2009 T20 World Cup glory, shed light on Hasan’s inclusion saying that the reason behind his selection was that the selectors thought they would need experience because he couldn’t have been selected based on performances.
"I was also a bit surprised by Hasan Ali's selection. Maybe the selection committee thought that we need an experienced backup bowler, but if I talk about performance, I don't see any such performance from Hasan Ali. I was thinking that Zaman Khan or Mohammad Ali could have been selected," Afridi said.
The former all-rounder also justified Usama Mir’s exclusion from the squad saying that he had not been consistent with the ball.
"Usama has performed well, but he has not been consistent with his bowling. But honestly, I think it would have been a tough decision for the selection committee to bench Usama,” he said.
“They must have seen that Shadab, Imad, and Iftikhar are their spinning options. Agha Salman also bowls, and Saim Ayub does too. So, there are a lot of options. So maybe Usama was benched because he was not performing very well.”
Pakistan squad for Ireland and England series:
Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saim Ayub, Fakhar Zaman, Irfan Khan Niazi, Iftikhar Ahmad, Usman Khan, Azam Khan (wk), Shadab Khan, Imad Wasim, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abbas Afridi, Abrar Ahmed, Hasan Ali, Salman Ali Agha
Pakistan's schedule of upcoming matches
Tour of Ireland
May 10: First T20I at Clontarf
May 12: Second T20I at Clontarf
May 14: Third T20I at Clontarf
Tour of England
May 22: First T20I at Leeds
May 25: Second T20I at Birmingham
May 28: Third T20I at Cardiff
May 30: Fourth T20I at The Oval