Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif believes India and England are the most balanced teams heading into the ICC T20 World Cup set be get underway later this month. The marquee event is scheduled to be held in the UAE and Oman from October 17.
“India and England appear to be the most balanced sides in the tournament while West Indies always remain a dangerous side but I wouldn’t write Pakistan off as if they click they could gain momentum and surprise many people," Latif told PTI.
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Speaking of Pakistan, Latif demanded the resignation of under-fire chief selector Muhammad Wasim if any changes are made to the World Cup squad announced last month.
The former wicketkeeper-batter said he could sense there would be some changes in the World Cup squad as it did not come across a balanced outfit and there were some perplexing inclusions and exclusions. “Now if they go ahead and make changes in the main 15-member squad then the chief selector must ethically resign and so should the other selectors," Latif said.
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“Because they are responsible for selecting the squad and if changes are made it means they failed to do their jobs properly the first time around." Pakistan’s World Cup squad, which will leave on a chartered flight for Dubai on October 15, has come under a lot of scrutiny after some of the selected players have failed to click properly in the ongoing National T20 Championship. When the 15-member squad and three reserve players were announced, there was criticism over the selectors’ decision to not pick senior players Shoaib Malik and Sarfaraz Ahmed and even the naming of opener, Fakhar Zaman, in the reserves.
Latif said since T20 is an unpredictable format one, nobody should write off the Pakistan squad and it could achieve anything in the mega event. Latif questioned the selection of young Azam Khan as reserve keeper-batter over former captain Sarfaraz as well as the exclusion of Zaman and pacer Shahnawaz Dahani from the main squad.
There was some good news for Pakistan cricket as senior all-rounder, Muhammad Hafeez recovered from dengue fever and resumed light training in Lahore. The illness had forced him to miss the National T20 Championship matches in Rawalpindi which will now continue in Lahore till October 13.
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