Sharjeel Khan was "sidelined" in T20 World Cup 2021: Basit Ali

Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali has made shocking claims about left-handed batter Sharjeel Khan’s snub from the squad for the T20 World Cup 2021.

Speaking on ARY News show Har Lamha Pujosh, the former cricketer revealed the batter was an ‘automatic choice’ for the opening slot in the Pakistan squad for the tournament.

“It was decided in the meeting that he [Sharjeel Khan] was the automatic choice. Two days later, it was said that he had become slow and lazy,” Basit Ali said.

The former Pakistan cricketer claimed that the explosive batter was sidelined as certain players were threatened by his explosive batting at the top of the order.

According to Basit Ali, certain players are discarded by proper planning without letting anyone notice their snub.

Expressing dismay over the team’s dismal performance, he criticised players for focusing too much on their ICC rankings.

“What is the use of such ranking if we are not winning matches?” he said.

Pertinent to note here that Sharjeel Khan was named in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) spot-fixing scandal in 2017 and was suspended for five years from playing any form of cricket.

Half of his sentence was suspended which allowed him to make a comeback in 2019.

Following the suspension of his sentence, Sharjeel Khan participated in PSL and domestic tournaments.

He also toured with the Pakistan team to Zimbabwe, South Africa and West Indies to play T20Is.

His last 50-over game for Pakistan was against Australia in January 2017.