Pakistan’s white-ball skipper Babar Azam supported the selection of pacer, Hasan Ali, in the 18-man squad that will participate in the upcoming Ireland and England T20I series.
Hasan last played a T20I match in Asia Cup 2022 and his sudden inclusion was no less than a surprise for the cricket fraternity as players like Zaman Khan, Mohammad Wasim Jr., Usama Mir and others — who have been a regular part of Pakistan over the last two to three years — were ignored.
As Pakistan prepare to depart for Ireland, Azam held a press conference on Monday where he expressed that he does not understand the criticism behind Hasan’s selection as he is not part of the 15-man squad.
I have been hearing for quite some time that why is he [Hasan Ali] back? Selectors have also made it clear that he is there as backup. It is not that he is part of the 15-member squad [for the World Cup]. We need to understand that he is a backup because of his experience,
BABAR
“It is not because of just one person that he [Hasan] is selected. There are seven selectors who selected him,” he added.
Earlier, Former Pakistani captain Shahid 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 needed 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
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
