No Place For Babar, Naseem: Key Takeaways From Pakistan's Squad Selection For WI T20Is

Key takeaways from Pakistan T20I squad [Source: @Mustajab625/x.com]

Pakistan announced its white-ball squads for the away tour of the West Indies, a couple of days ago. The series kicks-off with the T20I format, as the two teams will try and experiment with their bench strengths for next year's T20 World Cup in India. Pakistan's white-ball team has been under scrutiny for the last one-year. 

They crashed out of the group stage in the T20 World Cup last year and also bowed out in the group phase during the Champions Trophy earlier this year. Recently, they lost the T20Is vs the Bangladesh team, and the team is low on confidence.

They have gone in with their tried and tested squad for the upcoming T20Is vs the West Indies, and here are major takeaways from the squad.

1) Still no place for Babar Azam, Naseem Shah

Pakistan made a surprising decision by bringing in Shaheen Afridi back in the T20Is, but they once again left out Babar Azam and Naseem Shah from the format. The duo have not played for Pakistan since the shambolic Champions Trophy performance, and despite a poor performance in the T20I series vs Bangladesh, the selectors are unhinged, and are backing the youngster to deliver.

(Babar Azam T20I stats)

(Naseem Shah in his last T20I series)

Babar is Pakistan's leading run-getter in T20Is, but his strike-rate often comes under scrutiny, and Pakistan decided to omit him from the team. The same is the case with Naseem Shah, who was poor in the Champions Trophy, and it looks like Pakistan have moved on from him in the game's shortest format. 

In his last T20I series against Australia, Naseem went at nearly 14 runs per over, and Australian batters targeted him with ease.

2) Shaheen Afridi back in the side

Once touted as the next big thing in international cricket, Shaheen Afridi's career across formats has dipped in the last few years. His pace has dropped significantly, and his performances have been average in T20Is. Hence, the selectors decided to axe him from the squad.

However, after witnessing an uninspiring performance in the recently concluded T20Is vs New Zealand and Bangladesh, the Pakistan selectors decided to bring their main man back in the side. Shaheen, though, will be under pressure, and this series could be his last chance to prove his worth in T20Is.

3) Pakistan still showing faith in Mohammad Haris

4, 0, 5, these were the scores of Mohammad Haris in the T20I series vs Bangladesh. Coming in at number 3, the batter failed to deliver the goods and couldn't even cross the double-digit mark in the series.

(Haris stats in T20Is)

In-fact, barring his 107* against Bangladesh, in the T20Is, a couple of months ago, he has failed in almost all the matches, with his next best score being 41 this year. There are other batters waiting in the wings to replace Haris, but Pakistan are still showing faith in him despite average outings.

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