T20 World Cup: Saeed Ajmal slams PCB's selection of Mohammad Haris over Sarfaraz Ahmed

Mohammad Haris (PC: Twitter)

Pakistan Cricket Board and the selectors have come under huge scrutiny after announcing the 15-member squad for the ICC T20I World Cup 2022. Pakistan’s loss to Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup 2022 final by 23 runs resulted in the fans and the cricket pundits slamming the management and selectors for leaving out certain players.

The board have decided not to make amends as they have backed almost the same squad for the upcoming ICC event. PCB raised a lot of eyebrows in the cricket fraternity by picking Mohammad Haris in the reserve players as a backup for first-choice wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan.

Haris is a novice when it comes to international cricket, as he is yet to make his debut in the shortest format of the game. The youngster has featured in just four One Day Internationals scoring 10 runs at an average of 3.3 and strike rate of 55.5. Pakistan’s legendary spinner Saeed Ajmal seemed highly upset with Haris’ inclusion as he took a jibe at PCB chairman Ramiz Raja.

Ajmal hails Sarfaraz Ahmed

Ajmal believes that Raja’s fondness for the youngster is the key reason behind his selection in the squad. Notably, former Pakistan skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed could have been a good option for the backup wicketkeeper-batter. Sarfaraz has a lot of experience and he has been showing tremendous form in the National T20 Cup.

Speaking on his official YouTube channel, Ajmal stated:

“Mohammad Haris is selected because he is Ramiz Raja's choice. He is his favorite. Ramiz Raja likes him, that's why they kept him. If you want to go by performance, Sarfaraz (Ahmed) has been performing well in the (domestic) T20s. You could have kept him in the reserves.”

Further, the spin veteran also expressed his disappointment over the exclusion of Sharjeel Khan. The batter last played for Pakistan in August 2021 but he made headlines recently by smacking a century in the domestic T20 extravaganza. Ajmal is of the opinion that Sharjeel could have added the much-needed experience in Pakistan’s otherwise relatively young middle-order.

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