Ramiz Raja defends Pakistan T20 World Cup 2022 squad, speaks on Shoaib Malik’s snub

Shoaib Malik was snubbed from Pakistan's World Cup squad (PC: Twitter)

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ramiz Raja has backed the team selection for the upcoming 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia. During a recent interview, the cricketer-turned-administrator claimed that the selection committee had limited options.

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PCB chief addresses Malik’s exclusion from team

While speaking on Geo TV, Ramiz Raja responded to the repeated criticisms of team’s middle-order failures. Pakistan recently lost the 2022 Asia Cup final to Sri Lanka, as well as the subsequent seven-match home series against England.

After defeats in both assignments, the team’s middle-order was exposed to much ridicule from a legion of Pakistani fans. Several fans and cricket experts have called for a return of T20 veteran Shoaib Malik, who made his last appearance for the country back in November 2021. Since then, the 40-year-old has been repeatedly overlooked by the selectors.

Amidst rising criticism over a struggling middle-order and the absence of Malik, the PCB chief said that the team rather needs consistency in selection. A former cricketer himself, he added that the team has already experimented with senior players in last year’s T20 World Cup. Raja said:

“We have experimented with the senior players in the last T20 World Cup. I dont’ have any issue. But my philosophy in cricket is- We need consistency in selection and we need to strengthen the skipper. We don’t have Lionel Messi sitting in the bench and instead picked a worthless player in the team. We have limited options.”

Pakistan team is currently in New Zealand for a tri-series involving Bangladesh as the third team. The series itself serves a dress rehearsal for the three sides ahead of this month’s T20 World Cup.

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