Mushtaq Ahmed urges PCB to support Azam Khan, Saim Ayub despite poor performance

Former Pakistan cricketer Mushtaq Ahmed has expressed concerns over the Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) inconsistent selection policies, urging them to support young talents like Azam Khan and Saim Ayub despite their recent struggles.

In an exclusive interview with Cricket Pakistan, Ahmed highlighted the lack of consistency in the PCB's selection criteria, criticizing the frequent changes in player lineups, which, according to him, confuse both players and fans alike.

"The consistency lies in your selection criteria. You play someone for one or two matches and then drop them, and then bring them back after two matches; it confuses people. When you were consistently playing in three or four series, something felt strange to me when they said they were looking at the combination. If you need help understanding the combination after playing three series, it means there is no consistency in your selection. Here, it's important to provide assurance. We also don't know which players will go or not go in the next tournament, so all these things affect the team's combination and the players' performance," Mushtaq said.

Addressing the issue of bench strength development, the former cricketer lamented the PCB's failure to nurture young talent during successful periods.

He specifically mentioned Azam Khan and Saim Ayub as examples of promising young players who deserve backing from the PCB despite their recent patchy performances.

"Our bench strength isn't improving, you know why? We've never experimented in life, never lifted people from below and played them from the bench when we were winning, so that is the best time to bring your young people, just like Saim; Saim has shown talent, hasn't he, Azam came in the middle overs and hit sixes in the PSL, now how to get performance from Azam or how to get performance from Saim, sometimes it's also the role of coaches, also the role of management, I think they should back them, their answer should be the most important thing on this matter," he said.

Both Saim and Azam Khan have been facing challenges in the T20I format recently. Saim has played 23 matches, scoring 309 runs with a highest score of 49, averaging 14.71 at a strike rate of 122.13. Meanwhile, Azam Khan, in his 14 T20I appearances, has accumulated 88 runs with an unbeaten highest score of 30, averaging 8.80 at a strike rate of 133.33.