Wasim Akram's brutal swipe at PCB, cites India's Champions Trophy act; Rashid Khan calls out 'political selection'

On Friday, Pakistan finally named their 15-member squad for the impending Champions Trophy tournament at home, being the last participating nation to officially disclose their team. Fakhar Zaman made a return to the side after his fallout with the PCB, while Saim Ayub, who suffered an ankle injury during the Cape Town Test, remained unavailable for selection. However, the decision that left veteran cricketers furious was the selection of Faheem Ashraf, who last played an international match in 2023.

Speaking at a press conference on the sidelines of the ongoing ILT20 in Dubai, Pakistan captain Wasim Akram strongly criticised the selection of Ashraf as an all-rounder and Khushdil Shah. He also lashed out at the PCB for picking just one spinner, as Akram pointed out that India selected four spin bowlers for the tournament.

“Faheem Ashraf has been selected in this squad but in the last few months his batting average is 8 while his bowling average is 100. Apart from this, Khushdil Shah's performance has also not been good and we have selected only one spinner but India has selected 4 spinners," he said.

'A political selection. Joke!'

Another former Pakistan captain, Rashid Khan, echoed Akram's thoughts as he accused PCB of making a "political selection" in picking Ashraf.

"It seems a political selection," Latif told Telecomeasia.net. "Faheem has no recent performance to warrant a selection, and his record isn't impressive.

Notably, Faheem has picked 26 wickets in 34 ODIs at 46.30, and scored just 224 runs in 24 innings at 10.66.

Latif further outlined that Pakistan refrained from picking the bnew players who were trued during the series against Australia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. "This squad includes players like Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, and Saud Shakeel, who were not part of the system on the last three tours. Now, it is up to captain Mohammad Rizwan to select the best XI, just as Imran Khan did in 1992 and Younis Khan in 2009," he said.

Former Pakistan fast bowler Tanvir Ahmed joined the bandwagon in criticising PCB's selection as he called the squad "a joke."

"We have selected a squad that is a joke in our conditions," Tanvir told Telecomeasia.net. "Look at India, they have four quality spinners in Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, and Axar Patel. And we? Just one spinner in Abrar Ahmed."

"This is a squad picked on perchi (recommendations), and for that, the selection committee must take responsibility. There was no need to change the squad that performed well on the last three fours," he added.