Ramiz Raja opens up on Shoaib Malik’s exclusion from T20I side

There have been calls to include Shoaib Malik as middle order batters have been under immense scrutiny

PHOTO: PCB/ICC

Pakistan cricket team has faced plenty of criticism, especially after losing to the host Sri Lanka in the UAE's finals of the Asia T20 cup 2022.

While the opening pair Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan are showing consistency in their performances, the middle order has not stepped up much.

Conversations and discussions are being raised for the selection of players like Shoaib Malik back into the team, just like the previous T20 World Cup. When Chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Ramiz Raja was asked about this, he had a unique way of discussing about this matter.

On the road towards the T20 World Cup 2022, Pakistan’s performance has not gone up to its mark. After not being able to win the Asia Cup, Pakistan suffered series defeat against England at home in a seven-match T20 series, which Pakistan lost 3-4.

However, Pakistan under the captaincy of Babar Azam, are showing progress in the tri-series against Bangladesh and New Zealand.

Although, Pakistan managed to win the starting matches of the Tri-Series against Bangladesh and the hosts New Zealand, but there are questions marks remaining to be answered about the downfall of Pakistan’s middle over performance.

Speaking to the local media, Ramiz Raja was asked about the middle-order crisis and he responded back in a sarcastic way, saying it's not like Pakistan has Lionel Messi on the bench and a "raddi" guy is playing.

"We did it in the last T20 World Cup (selecting Shoaib Malik). I don't have any problem doing it again. My philosophy is simple; you should have consistency in selection. You need a strong captain as well. We don't have Lionel Messi sitting on our bench and it is not like we have selected really bad players. We have limited options," the former captain said.

"To increase options and talent pool, we are working on our junior leagues, at this point of time, it's a bit of hit and miss but my philosophy is to make the captain strong. You should give him the options on which players to give chance to," he added.