LAHORE: Former Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq, who is also the chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Cricket Technical Committee (CTC), opened up on leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed’s inclusion in travelling reserves rather than the 15-member squad for ICC World Cup 2023.
Misbah-ul-Haq – while speaking at A Sports’ programme ‘The Pavilion’ – responded to a query whether ‘mystery spinner’ Abrar Ahmed should be named in the final 15-member Pakistan squad rather than travelling reserves.
“He [Abrar] should have been part of the final 15,” the former captain said, citing ‘dismal performance’ of spinners in the recently-held Asia Cup 2023.
Misbah further said that he and Muhammad Hafeez, who was also part of CTC, called for Abrar’s inclusion in the final squad.
However, he said, it was his and Hafeez’s opinion and a final decision had to be made by team management and captain Babar Azam. “Team management and captain’s decision is more important in this regard,” he added.
It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan replaced their vice-captain Shadab Khan with Usama Mir against Australia in World Cup 2023 clash against Australia on Friday (October 20).
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The leg-spinner who has been going through a rough patch, picking up only 2 wickets in the first 3 matches of their World Cup campaign.
Shadab Khan’s place in the side has been under the scanner since his underwhelming performances in the Asia Cup campaign in Sri Lanka and Pakistan. However, the team management backed him for the World Cup and he continued to be Babar Azam’s deputy.
Leg-spinner Usama Mir, playing in his first match of the tournament, spilled an easy-looking catch that would have seen the back of David Warner in the fifth over of Friday’s game bowled by Shaheen Shah Afridi.
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At the time Warner was on just 10 – he went on to make 163, hitting nine sixes and 14 boundaries to propel Australia to an imposing 367-9.
Mir returned with dismal figures of 1-82 in his quota of nine overs. He also misfired with the bat and bagged a three-ball duck.
After winning their opening games against the Netherlands and Sri Lanka, Pakistan have now lost two in a row with the Australia setback coming after they were completely outplayed by India last weekend.
They are fifth in the 10-nation tournament with only the top four making the semi-finals.
