Sharjeel Khan is in the squad, not the playing XI: Rashid Latif

Pakistan’s former wicketkeeper-batsman Rashid Latif believes that left-handed opener Sharjeel Khan will find it difficult to seal a spot in the Pakistan playing XI.

Sharjeel was included in Pakistan’s T20I squad for the tours of South Africa and Zimbabwe on Friday.

“If you wanted to stop players like Amir and Sharjeel from representing the national side again, then the precedent should have been set when Amir returned. But now you can’t do that,” said Latif while speaking on his official YouTube channel ‘Caught Behind’.

“I think the selection committee or rather Misbah and Mohammad Wasim have included Sharjeel in the squad but it will be difficult to select him in the playing XI. We already have Rizwan and Babar which is why I think Sharjeel has been included in the squad but won’t play,” he added.

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However, Latif admitted that Sharjeel should be included if the current opening pair of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan don’t do well in the four-match T20I series against South Africa.

“I think we will play with the current opening pair in the first two T20Is against South Africa, if the results don’t go our way then Sharjeel should be included,” he said. “Australia and South Africa are two countries where Sharjeel could prove useful because he is one of the best players in the world when it comes to short pitched bowling.”

Sharjeel scored 200 runs in five innings of the PSL season six, before it was postponed, at a strike rate of 170.94 including a century.