Strange Decisions Made In Pakistan’s South Africa Bound Squad

Pakistan announced their squad for the 3 match Test series against the Proteas a few days back. Those who have been selected include Sarfraz Ahmed (captain), Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Shan Masood, Azhar Ali, Haris Sohail, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Yasir Shah, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Abbas, Hassan Ali, Mohammad Amir, Faheem Ashraf and Shaheen Shah Afridi. So, here is a look at some strange decisions that have been made in Pakistan’s South Africa bound squad.

Read: Real Reasons Behind Pakistan’s Defeat Against New Zealand

The Case Of Imam-ul-Haq and Shan Masood

Imam-ul-Haq now has failed in six consecutive innings. He has visibly looked out of sorts after being hit by Lockie Ferguson. Shan Masood on the other hand has shown good improvement in domestic cricket but has an extremely poor record in seaming conditions.

Hence, selecting any of the two for South Africa makes little or no sense whatsoever.

Read: Why Sarfraz’s Decision Of Not Taking The New Ball Was Disappointing

No Place for Abid Ali & Fawad Alam

Despite humiliation in UAE Pakistan it seems are yet to learn from their mistakes. It is just strange that the selectors could find a place for an out of form Imam and a tried and tested upper order batsman like Shan Masood. However, they could still could not accommodate the inform Abid Ali and Fawad Alam.

Pakistan’s best bet in South Africa given the circumstances is to open with Fakhar Zaman and Azhar Ali. The one down position then should be returned of Babar Azam. It is pretty obvious that either Fawad or Abid deserve the opportunity to play in the middle order. Fawad in particular, is good at rotating the strike – something the Pakistani batsmen couldn’t do and had to pay heavily for in UAE. Nevertheless, the selection committee after discarding Fawad Alam for no apparent reason seems to have gone stubborn; even after the home series debacle.

Read: Who Will Open The Innings During Pakistan’s Tour To South Africa?

Selecting Shadab Ahead of Bilal

There is no doubt that Shadab Khan is an excellent find. Nevertheless, he is yet to make his mark in the longest version of the game. Bilal Asif on the other hand managed two 5 wicket hauls in UAE and seemed settled to replace Yasir Shah in case of an injury. Still, he was discarded without an explanation.

One anyway wonders, if Shadab was better than Bilal then why was he not played ahead of him in UAE and if really Bilal was a better choice than Shadab in UAE then given his height (that allows plenty of bounce) why is he now being given a cold shoulder? Mind boggling, isn’t it?