Former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar slammed the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for their selection of the national team squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia and even predicted that Pakistan might not make it into the semi-finals.
Pakistan's middle-order woes were exposed in front of Sri Lanka at the Asia Cup. Akhtar went on to point out that the selectors didn't retain batter Fakhar Zaman when captain Babar Azam is opening the innings. He was particularly unhappy with chief selector Mohammad Wasim and head coach Saqlain Mushtaq.
Fakhar Zaman was named on the reserves list with Shan Masood being picked in the main 15-member squad and Mohammad Wasim revealed that Zaman was suffering from an injury and hence was not picked in the main squad.
"Pakistan Cricket Board ne kya select kiya he team. Problem middle order ka tha but unhone kaha ki consistency ke saath hum aisa decision karenge jo aapko bara pasand ayeaga, matlab humlog aisa bura decision lenge ki middle order change hi nehi karenge (The problem was in the middle order but the selectors overlooked it and didn't make any change in the middle order)," Akhtar said on his YouTube channel.
He added: "Fakhar Zaman, I have told this a million times before, give him those 6 overs. Australia me ball usse suit karega but Babar Azam ko upr hi rakhna (I have said his a million times that give 6 overs to Fakhar Zaman as the Australian conditions will suit him and keep Babar at the top)."
Akhtar further criticized his former teammate Saqlain Mushtaq for having no idea about T20 cricket. The former fast bowler added he is scared that Pakistan might get knocked out in the early stage of the T20 World Cup.
"Jab chief selector average hoga unke decision bhi average honge (When chief selector is average then average decisions would be taken). Saqlain (Mushtaq) last played cricket in 2002, I don’t want to say this as he is my friend, but I don’t think he has any idea about T20 cricket. I don’t think this is your forte," Akhtar said.
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"Meanwhile, Mohammad Yousuf is not even there is the team. Had he been there, how could our batting not perform? Yousuf is an asset in the dressing room, but I don’t know how much say he has in this team. Iftikhar Ahmed is Misbah part two. Mashallah, we had Rizwan and now he has Iftikhar for company.
With this team, we might get knocked out in the first round itself. I am really scared as our batting has no depth. Our captain is also not cut out for this format as he always looks for classic cover drives. He wants to look classic," Akhtar completed his opinion on Pakistan’s squad.
Pakistan will play India in their first match of the T20 World Cup on October 23 in Melbourne.
