The former Pakistan cricketer, Mohsin Khan has come down hard on the Pakistan cricket team claiming that eight of their top eleven cricketers don’t meet the fitness standards.
Mohsin, who has played 48 Tests and 75 ODIs for the country, has suggested the name of Sharjeel Khan for the opening slot citing that he is a talented player and his below-par fitness levels won’t matter much as there are already a lot of players in the Pakistan squad who do not match the required fitness standards of international cricket.
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He told Daily Express, “Opening has always been an issue for Pakistan. Sharjeel Khan is a talented player. His fitness should not be a major concern because I think eight players in Pakistan’s playing eleven don’t meet the required standards so it does not make much of a difference.”
The 65-year-old also made some strong accusations against the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and said that he expected everything to be fair and based on merit once former captain Imran Khan had become the Prime Minister of the country. He is also unhappy with the dual role of Misbah-ul-Haq.
Khan said, “When Imran Khan became the Prime Minister, I was expecting that the decisions in PCB will be taken on merit but that does not seem the case. Our cricket is derailing from the right track as there is no consistency in the national team’s performance.”
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“There is a lack of accountability with Misbah as the team’s head coach-cum chief selector. Who will you hold responsible when the head coach fields a side which he had selected himself?” he added.
However, Mohsin Khan had words of praise for Pakistan’s star batsman Babar Azam, who has earned T20I captaincy on the basis of consistent performances in international cricket for quite some time now.
He said, “Babar has continued to perform well in all three formats despite the additional responsibility of being the captain of the T20I side. He is a disciplined player and a role model for younger players in the country.”