Mohammad Hafeez tacitly takes a dig at Sharjeel Khan

Pakistan’s veteran all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez tacitly took a dig at opener Sharjeel Khan bearing in mind the fact that the latter’s potential inclusion in the national side has been the talk of the town in the recent past.

Sharjeel was suspended and sent back home after the start of the second edition of PSL in Dubai in February, 2017. The 29-year-old was later banned for five years, with half of his five-year ban suspended, by the anti-corruption tribunal of the PCB for his role in the spot-fixing scandal while playing for Islamabad United. The left-hander took part in HBL PSL 5 while representing the Karachi Kings franchise.

Although Pakistan bowling coach Waqar Younis believes it would be too early to include Sharjeel back into national side.

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While speaking in a YouTube video, the former pacer was not impressed with the left-hander’s fitness level.

“Sharjeel needs a lot of work right now. You can’t judge him on the basis of one or two innings,” said Waqar. “He needs to work on his fitness because where are we going to hide him in the field? Fielding is really important these days and especially in Australia where grounds are really big.”

Hafeez shared his opinion, through social media, on the aforementioned statement by Waqar Younis and a question on whether fitness should be overlooked if a player has a decent skill set.

“Shouldn’t we set standards of dignity and pride higher than any other “Extra Talent” to represent Pakistan. Just Asking,” said Hafeez on his official Twitter account.

Shouldn’t we set Standards of Dignity & Pride Higher than any other “Extra Talent” to represent Pakistan 🇵🇰 Just Asking https://t.co/9xxIvcAqM8

— Mohammad Hafeez (@MHafeez22) March 20, 2020

Earlier in 2015, when left-arm pacer Mohammad Amir was returning from his five-year ban due to spot-fixing and was invited to the national team’s training camp, Hafeez had said that he "can't share the dressing room with someone who hurt my country's integrity".

However, the veteran all-rounder was later convinced by then Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shehryar Khan to take part in the camp.

In his nine innings for Karachi Kings in HBL PSL 5, Sharjeel scored 199 runs at an average 24.87 and a strike-rate of 144.20.