Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have dropped Haider Ali from the tour of England and West Indies after the batsman and his Peshawar Zalmi teammate Umaid Asif admitted to charges of violating the PSL 6 Health and Safety Protocols by meeting people from outside their designated bio-secure bubble and also failing to maintain the prescribed social distancing.
Chair of the Selectors Muhammad Wasim, in consultation with captain Babar Azam and head coach Misbah-ul-Haq has named Sohaib Maqsood as Haider Ali’s replacement for the two tours on which the Pakistan men’s national cricket team will play three ODIs and eight T20Is, apart from two Tests in Jamaica.
Sohaib has had a stellar Pakistan Super League 6, in which he has to date scored 363 runs in 11 matches with an average of 40.33 and strike rate of just under 153. He has represented Pakistan in 26 ODIs and 20 T20Is, with his last T20I appearance being against New Zealand in Hamilton in January 2016.
Maqsood registered his best performance versus Peshawar Zalmi scoring 61 runs off 31 balls. His performance has solely been improved since he has entirely focused on white-ball cricket. The batsman has assembled four fifties to pile up the mentioned runs in 11 innings. His PSL 6 numerics count 33 fours and 19 sixes.
Since the start of 2020, Sohaib Maqsood has the highest T20 strike rate among Pakistan batters and is ninth on the global list (among those with a minimum of 500 runs and 20 innings). It has been a period of transformation for the 34-year-old middle-order batter who was striking at 125.79 previously.
Haider Ali has so far scored 594 runs at an average of 45.69 in 13 matches of the List-A career, 652 at an average of 46.57 in eight first-class matches. In international matches, he has scored 251 runs at an average of 20.91 in 14 matches T20 matches.
However, questions are being raised on Maqsood’s inclusion in the national squad. Why Sohaib Maqsood was included on the failure of others rather than his own performance?
Favouritism and nepotism is not a new thing in Pakistan Cricket. The PCB has lost many potential players in the past due to favouritism and this trend is still going on. According to today’s requirements, the Pakistan Cricket Board should also change its approach and should give the timely opportunity to talented players.
