The Pakistan men's national selection committee again left out senior cricketers Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, and pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi for the upcoming T20 series against Bangladesh and the West Indies.
In a report by Telecom Asia Sport (www.telecomasia.net), this decision was taken after a discussion with white-ball head coach Mike Hesson and team captain Salman Agha.
The axing of these key players also seems to be connected to their latest performance in limited-overs cricket, including their act on the ICC Champions Trophy.
Rizwan had captained the team in a 2-0 T20 series defeat to South Africa, a series Babar participated in as well. After that disappointing performance, the two players were left out of the squad for the New Zealand tour and home series against Bangladesh.
"Pakistan's selection and management panel want to break away from Babar and Rizwan even though Hesson and Salman stated the door was not closed on the two erstwhile openers, whose strike rate and form of batting in T20Is were some of Pakistan's issues in recent losses," a high-ranking Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) official informed Telecom Asia Sport.
The existing selection committee has current captain Sarfaraz Ahmed and former fast bowler Sikander Bakht as observers. They have apparently backed the move to construct squads for the next three-match T20I series in Bangladesh and the five-match series against the West Indies without these experienced players, according to another source mentioned in the report.
Pakistan will play Bangladesh on July 20, 22, and 24, then play the West Indies in Florida.
The report further indicates that though coach Hesson had initially been keen to include Babar and Rizwan for the Bangladesh series, former cricketer Aaqib Javed is said to have protested, reasoning that the home series provided a good opportunity to try out youngsters.
Shaheen Shah Afridi was also included in the New Zealand tour at the start of the year, but did not get into form. He picked just two wickets in four matches, with an economy rate of 10.23, and was finally dropped from the last game. Shaheen's attitude and refusal to cooperate with the captain and team management are also said to have played a role in being left out.
Sources said that Hesson one-on-one met Babar, Rizwan, and Shaheen during training sessions in Lahore, detailing his selection plans and vision for the long term.
Also, captain Salman Agha is also said not to favor including Shaheen now, instead choosing to put money in young talent and construct a solid reserve bench.
Pakistan's T20 schedule before the upcoming year's World Cup, which India and Sri Lanka are jointly hosting, features bilateral series against Australia, Afghanistan, Ireland, South Africa, and Sri Lanka. Those fixtures are likely to act as crucial preparation for the blockbuster tournament.
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