Babar, Rizwan, Shaheen, Fakhar and Rauf were rested for three T20Is vs Afghanistan in Sharjah.
Pakistan and Afghanistan will play three T20Is in Sharjah on March 24, 26, and 27 and the PCB selection committee decided to rest a bunch of senior players for this assignment and has named Shadab Khan as the captain of the new-look team.
Pakistan captain Babar Azam, along with Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Rizwan and Shaheen Shah Afridi have been rested for the three-match T20I series against Afghanistan in Sharjah.
Cricket Pakistan also reported that PCB Management Committee chairman, Najam Sethi himself had contacted Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Shaheen Afridi, and Fakhar Zaman and told them that they will be given rest.
However, this decision to rest the big-wigs of the Pakistan team didn’t sit well with Rashid Latif, who said that PCB is doing a disservice by breaking the winning combination and creating a divide in the team between players as well.
"Our players are featuring in ICC rankings and winning awards after a long time. Babar and Shaheen won ICC awards. They [PCB] couldn’t digest it. They said we won’t let it happen and now we are here and will take decisions. Those who never took rest and are 70 or 80 years old and need to rest, are now deciding the fate of Pakistan cricket. You can say rest in peace Pakistan team. Our team is now resting in peace," Latif was quoted by Cricket Pakistan.
"When you bring new players, you break a team combination. Some new players, who are selected, will perform in the Afghanistan series, so will they bring back the senior players with lesser strike rate. Media will also put pressure on them. This is the first step towards destroying the Pakistan team," he further said, explaining his point.
Pakistan Squad:
Shadab Khan (C), Abdullah Shafique, Azam Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Ihsanullah, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shan Masood, Tayyab Tahir, Zaman Khan.
(Cricket Pakistan inputs)