Former prolific Pakistani batsman Zaheer Abbas backed the selection of the squad for the T-20 series against Australia in UAE and also for ICC World Twenty 20 in Sri Lanka but said that the players must prove their selection when the time comes.
“This is perhaps the best possible team from the available players. But the players must prove that the selectors did the right thing by selecting them when the time comes,” Zaheer Abbas told us.
All-rounder Mohammad Hafeez has been named to lead the team in both events and also through the complete year 2012.
Zaheer backed the selection of opener Imran Nazir, who is a hard-hitting batsman and also an agile fielder.
“He (Imran) is a very good T20 batsman and he is also a good fielder so therefore he is a right choice for the team,” Zaheer said.
Zaheer also supported the selection of wicket-keeper batsman Kamran Akmal and said that the team needed his services.
Kamran last played for Pakistan in the 2011 World Cup, was recently cleared by the PCB’s integrity committee.
Meanwhile, Zaheer said that although all-rounder Abdul Razzaq has become quite a senior player but his recent performance in County cricket justifies his selection.
“Seniors has to be called to help the team until junior players replace them by performing better than them. So Razzaq, who is now quite a senior player, but I don’t see his proper replacement and therefore he deserves a place in the team,” Zaheer said.
He also hoped that left-hand batsman Nasir Jamshaid, who would also be making a come-back, would also be able to make a good contribution for the team.
“Though the team is good but a prediction of good results would only be surmises as T20 cricket is replete with the element of luck, which makes it quite unpredictable,” Zaheer said.
ICC World T20 Squad: Muhammad Hafeez (Captain), Imran Nazir, Nasir Jamshaid, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal (W/K), Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Yasir Arafat, Sohail Tanveer, Umar Gul, Muhammad Sami, Saeed Ajmal, Raza Hassan.
ENDS-PPI
