'Babar Azam included Amir in team to put pressure on Shaheen Afridi'

Former cricketer Basit Ali claimed that Pakistan’s skipper Babar Azam included the speedster Mohammad Amir in the T20 World Cup team to pressure the star bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi.

Former champions Pakistan were knocked out of the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 after the all-important fixture between co-host USA and Ireland was washed out in Florida yesterday.

Basit Ali claimed that the team is not being selected on merit, but rather on personal preferences saying “this was not a Pakistani team instead Babar XI and Wahab Riaz XI played the matches.”

He expressed his disappointment with the team’s performance in the T20 World Cup, stating that the team’s exit from the tournament was a result of poor selection decisions.

He as “how Hasan Ali returned “. Basit Ali also criticized the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) establishment for providing poor advice to the chairman, which has led to the current state of affairs.

READ: Pakistan knocked out of T20 World Cup 2024

The former cricketer questioned the return of Hasan Ali, and the exclusion of Irfan Niazi, who has been performing well with 30 wickets so far.

Pakistan were knocked out of the mega tournament, the USA, playing their first-ever T20 World Cup, qualified for the Super 8 stage of the tournament as they shared points with Ireland due to washout.

The USA finished the group stage with five points in four matches. Whereas, Pakistan could attain a maximum of four points if they manage to beat Ireland in their last group fixture, scheduled on June 16.

Pakistan had a disastrous start to their T20 World Cup 2024 campaign as they suffered a shocking defeat at the hands of the USA in the Super Over.

The Green Shirts then succumbed to a frustrating six-run defeat against arch-rivals India in a blockbuster clash, that took place at a jam-packed Nassau County International Cricket Stadium on June 9.

The former champions then finally got on the winning track when they registered a hard-fought seven-wicket victory over Canada, who lost all three matches they have played thus far.

Pakistan Squad for T20 World Cup 2024: Babar Azam (c), Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan.