The biggest event that will have the cricketing world abuzz with excitement this year is the 2021 edition of the T20 World Cup. This mega tournament will take place in the deserts of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and will be held in the months of October and November this year.
And, the Pakistan side has announced their squad for the event. Babar Azam will lead the side, while the two men who will don the wicket-keeping gloves are Mohammad Rizwan and Azam Khan. Asif Ali, Khushdil Shah, Sohaib Maqsood, and the experienced Mohammad Hafeez will be the men who have been picked as specialist batsmen for the multi-nation tournament.
While the likes of Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Hasnain, and Shaheen Afridi will occupy the pace bowling department, Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz will be a part of the spin bowling department. However, there were some surprising omissions from the Pakistan squad for the T20 World Cup that will surely raise a few eyebrows. In this article, let us take a look at 5 such omissions.
5. Faheem Ashraf
Faheem Ashraf is a cricketer who is adept with both bat and ball. He is also an experienced player as well and has represented Pakistan in 42 T20Is. While he has scalped 35 wickets at a good strike rate of 20.54, he has also scored 259 runs at a strike rate of close to 130 in T20Is.
Ashraf has been in decent form with the ball in the T20Is that he has played this year. The right arm pacer has played 10 T20Is in 2021 and has picked up 6 wickets at a strike rate of 27.00.
Ashraf will surely be disappointed in missing out on a berth in the Pakistan squad for the most prestigious tournament in the T20I format of the game.
4. Wahab Riaz
Another surprising omission from the Pakistan T20 squad that was announced for the T20 World Cup is Wahab Riaz. Riaz is a bowler who can get the ball to swing in the air, and can also bowl toe-crushing yorkers and accurate bouncers that can catch batsmen off guard.
The 36-year-old has represented Pakistan in 36 T20Is and has prized out 34 willow wielders. In the 2021 edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL), Riaz emerged as the second-highest wicket-taker in the tournament, picking up 18 wickets at a strike rate of 15.60.
Time is also running out for the veteran pacer, as he is on the wrong side of 30, and an omission from the Pakistan T20 squad for the most important tournament in the T20I format of the game at this age does not augur well for Riaz.
3. Sharjeel Khan
Sharjeel Khan was in excellent form in the 2021 edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL). The bulky left-hander pulverized several bowling attacks and emerged as the 5th highest run-scorer in the competition.
Sharjeel plundered 338 runs in the 11 innings that he played in the PSL this year, and what was impressive was the fact that he scored his runs at a strike rate of close to 150. He has also played 21 T20Is for Pakistan and has amassed 406 runs in the international arena.
Surely, Sharjeel will not be a happy man after having missed the bus for the T20 World Cup this year.
2. Shoaib Malik
Shoaib Malik has been a part of Pakistan cricket for two decades now. Malik is the second-highest run-scorer for the Pakistan side in T20Is and has plundered 2323 runs at an average of 31.39.
In fact, Malik is also the most capped T20I player ever and has featured in 116 matches in the T20I arena. The right-handed batting veteran has been in decent form in the recent past and has two scores in excess of 40 in his last 5 T20I innings.
Apart from that, Malik can also roll his arm over if the need arises, and has scalped 28 wickets in T20I cricket. He also does a good job on the field as well. Malik’s experience would have been handy for the Pakistan side, but they chose to ignore the cricketing legend for the T20 World Cup this year.
1. Sarfaraz Ahmed
Another omission that was a surprising one was that of veteran wicketkeeper-batsman Sarfaraz Ahmed. The 34-year-old has played 60 T20Is for the Pakistan side and has scored 812 runs at a decent average of 28.00 and a strike rate in excess of 125.
While Mohammad Rizwan was a sure-shot pick in the Pakistan squad as the wicket-keeper batsman as he is in red hot form and has already scored 752 runs this year at an average of 94.00 in T20Is, Sarfaraz could have been drafted into the squad in place of Azam Khan.
Khan experienced an ordinary run in the 2021 edition of the PSL with the bat, where he scored just 174 runs at a poor average of 17.40. Also, Azam Khan does not have a lot of experience at the international level and has represented the ‘Men in Green’ in just 3 T20Is thus far. Sarfaraz will consider himself unlucky in missing out on a place in the Pakistan squad for the T20 World Cup this year.
Note: All stats have been taken from Cricinfo, Cricbuzz, and Howstat cricket
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