Pakistan’s all-format captain Babar Azam and Chief Selector Mohammad Wasim are not on the same page over veteran all-rounder Shoaib Malik’s inclusion in the national T20 side.  

According to sources, Babar has approached Wasim over Malik’s selection, on more than one occasion, but did not get a positive response from the chief selector despite poor performance of the middle-order in the recent past.

In 14 completed T20I matches this year, only Fakhar Zaman, apart from Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, has scored a fifty for the Men in Green.  

Wasim believes that Malik’s inclusion won’t benefit the Pakistan team as the latter is now aged 39, sources added.

Interestingly, Wasim has selected quite a few cricketers, despite growing age, during his tenure so far. Also, the poor form of all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez, aged 40, also created more issues for the team management.

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Despite Malik’s call for a separate white-ball for the national side, in a recent interview, Misbah is also not against Shoaib’s selection.  

At the moment, Malik, who last played for Pakistan in September 2020, is not part of the selection committee’s plans but insistence from the team management could pave the all-rounder’s path to comeback with the T20 World Cup just around the corner.

It must be noted that Malik was the fourth highest run-scorer in the sixth season of the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) with 354 runs. He also accumulated 240 runs in seven matches of the Kashmir Premier League.