The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on March 13 (Monday) announced the senior men's T20I squad for the Afghanistan series. Interestingly, captain Babar Azam and premier paceman Shaheen Afridi were rested for the T20I series and Shadab Khan was appointed as the new captain in absence of the superstar batter. The decision to rest Babar and Shaheen didn't sit well with Pakistan's former batter Rashid Latif, who launched a blistering attack at the country's cricket board.
Latif went as far as claiming that the Pakistan cricket team can now 'rest in peace' after Babar and Shaheen were rested for the Afghanistan T20I series.
"Our players are featuring in ICC rankings and winning awards after a long time. Babar and Shaheen won ICC awards. They (PCB) couldn't digest it. They said we won't let it happen and now we are here and will take decisions. Those who never took rest and are 70 or 80-year-old and need to rest, are now deciding the fate of Pakistan cricket. You can say rest in peace Pakistan team. Our team is now rest in peace," Latif was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
"When you bring new players, you break a team combination. Some new players, who are selected, will perform in the Afghanistan series, so will they bring back the senior players back with lesser strike rate. Media will also put pressure on them. This is the first step towards destroying Pakistan team," he opined.
The T20I series will begin on March 25 and will end on March 29. It will be the first bilateral T20I series between the two nations. Before the T20I series, Afghanistan and Pakistan have met each other three times in the format. Afghanistan came close to beating Pakistan in T20 Asia Cup but Naseem Shah held his nerves and guided them to a one-wicket victory at Sharjah.
Pakistan T20I squad vs Afghanistan: Shadab Khan (c), Abdullah Shafique, Azam Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Ihsanullah, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shan Masood, Tayyab Tahir, Zaman Khan
Reserve players: Abrar Ahmed, Haseebullah and Usama Mir
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