"Even Babar Azam is close with Hasan Ali...": Pakistan batter Ahmed Shehzad on pacer's selection T20I squad

Islamabad [Pakistan], May 4 (ANI): Pakistan batter Ahmed Shahzad has claimed that pacer Hasan Ali was able to get into the national senior side apparently because of his close relations with skipper Babar Azam, assistant coach Azhar Mahmood and chief selector Wahab Riaz and he is not able to find any performances to justify the place in the team. Pakistan announced the T20I squad for their upcoming series against Ireland and England on Thursday. Star Men in Green pacer Haris Rauf returned to the squad after missing the recently concluded New Zealand series due to a shoulder injury. Apart from Rauf, seamer Hasan Ali also made his comeback in the squad which will travel to Ireland and England for the 20-over series.

Speaking to Geo News, Shehzad, who represented Pakistan in 13 Tests, 81 ODIs and 59 T20Is, said, "Hasan Ali was going to find his way back in the team because see Azhar Mahmood has come, he likes Hasan Ali a lot. They have a close relation. Wahab Riaz has had a close relationship with Hasan Ali. Even Babar Azam is close with Hasan Ali."

"I am not saying that he has made it to the squad based on that only. However, I am not able to find any performances to justify his place in the team. Even Haris Rauf was injured. Just after recovering, he was selected. How?" Shahzad continued.

Hasan took 14 wickets in 10 matches for Karachi Kings in this year's Pakistan Super League (PSL).

He also opined that Pakistan keeps rotating 35-40-something stars from PSL rather than trying out new talent.

"If you want to do things based on PSL only, like Shadab is a PSL captain, then he should be there, someone is a Lahore Qalandars player, he should be there, someone is a Peshawar Zalmi player, so he should be there. Then, we can stop domestic cricket and just rotate those 35-40 players in the Pakistan team," Shahzad concluded.

Schedule:

Ireland series: May 10: First T20I, Dublin; May 12 Second T20I, Dublin; May 14: Third T20I, Dublin

England series: May 22: First T20I, Leeds; May 25: Second T20I, Birmingham; May 28: Third T20I, Cardiff; May 30: Fourth T20I, London.

Pakistan squad: Babar Azam (C), Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Rizwan, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan. (ANI)