In a recent development concerning the Pakistan cricket team in the T20I series against New Zealand, the board denied Shadab Khan's request to lead the side in the recently concluded T20I series against New Zealand.
It has been reported that Shadab Khan was to originally lead the side in the T20I series against Pakistan. However, the proposal was rejected by the PCB. Pakistan lost the T20I series 4-1 and they are trailing in the ODI series as well.
Pakistan was led by their newly appointed T20I skipper Salman Ali Agha in the T20I series. Despite having decent enough experienced players in the side, Agha could not lead his side to a T20I series win. The selection process involved consultation with team mentors to address their concerns. The idea behind selecting Salman as the T20I skipper was keeping in mind the T20 World Cup next year.
Pakistan Mentors Did Not Want Shadab Khan As T20I Captain
The squad for the New Zealand ODI and T20I series was selected after consultation with five mentors namely, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Saqlain Mushtaq, Waqar Younis, Misbah-ul-Haq and Shoaib Malik. Despite such experienced players selecting the squad, Pakistan lost the T20I series and are on the backfoot in the ODI series as well.
In the first ODI against New Zealand, Usman Khan opened the innings alongside Abdullah Shafique. The duo had a good opening stand of 83 for the first wicket. Sources close to the PCB said that, a similar strategy was in place for Pakistan in their match against India in Dubai but the board denied the proposal. As it turned out, Pakistan lost the match to India and were knocked out of the tournament inside the first week.
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In case of Shadab's captaincy, after discussing with the mentors, the selectors initially suggested Shadab Khan's name as captain. However, PCB officials rejected the idea, questioning how a player not consistently part of the squad could be made captain. The mentors went with the suggestion of Salman Ali Agha, while Shadab was named the vice-captain for the T20I series.
The T20I series loss against New Zealand for Pakistan was a disappointing one. The Men in Green are currently seventh in the ICC T20I rankings. The Kiwis are placed fourth. In the ICC ODI rankings, Pakistan are ranked fourth despite their Champions Trophy debacle.
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