LAHORE: Pakistan captain Babar Azam has ruled out a return for veteran all-rounder Shoaib Malik to the Twenty20 squad ahead of the World Cup in Australia, saying the team needed to give fresh talent more opportunities to develop.
Malik, who played the last of his 124 Twenty20 Internationals against Bangladesh last November, has impressed in Pakistan’s domestic T20 league and with the Asia Cup and World Cup on the horizon local media suggested the 40-year-old’s experience could prove invaluable.
However, there was no place for the former captain, a useful all-rounder, in the squad for this month’s Asia Cup in the United Arab Emirates and Babar said they were looking to the future with the World Cup coming up in October-November.
“There are matches immediately after Netherlands, so it’s unlikely there will be time for changes,” Babar told reporters on Thursday ahead of their Dutch tour next week.
“When senior players leave the side, those replacing them need focus. (Mohammad) Hafeez and Malik were huge players and we’ll miss them a lot, and players like Asif Ali, Khushdil Shah and Iftikhar (Ahmed) need to fill their boots.
“We want to give them plenty of matches and confidence, and these players have performed.”
Pakistan will play three one-day internationals in Rotterdam before arriving in the UAE where they begin their Asia Cup campaign with an Aug. 28 blockbuster against arch-rivals India in Dubai.
Malik, who played the last of his 124 Twenty20 Internationals against Bangladesh last November, has impressed in Pakistan’s domestic T20 league and with the Asia Cup and World Cup on the horizon local media suggested the 40-year-old’s experience could prove invaluable.
However, there was no place for the former captain, a useful all-rounder, in the squad for this month’s Asia Cup in the United Arab Emirates and Babar said they were looking to the future with the World Cup coming up in October-November.
“There are matches immediately after Netherlands, so it’s unlikely there will be time for changes,” Babar told reporters on Thursday ahead of their Dutch tour next week.
“When senior players leave the side, those replacing them need focus. (Mohammad) Hafeez and Malik were huge players and we’ll miss them a lot, and players like Asif Ali, Khushdil Shah and Iftikhar (Ahmed) need to fill their boots.
“We want to give them plenty of matches and confidence, and these players have performed.”
Pakistan will play three one-day internationals in Rotterdam before arriving in the UAE where they begin their Asia Cup campaign with an Aug. 28 blockbuster against arch-rivals India in Dubai.
Stay connected with us on social media platform for instant update click here to join our Twitter, & Facebook
We are now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@TechiUpdate) and stay updated with the latest Technology headlines.
For all the latest Cricket News Click Here
Denial of responsibility! Rapidtelecast.com is an automatic aggregator around the global media. All the content are available free on Internet. We have just arranged it in one platform for educational purpose only. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials on our website, please contact us by email – [email protected]. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.
