Former Pakistan player Rashid Latif has expressed his strong disapproval for any late changes in Pakistan’s T20 WC squad.
With the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup fast approaching, opinions from across the cricketing circle have started flooding in. All the teams have announced their preliminary squads for the mega event, starting in two weeks time. The teams are allowed to make changes to the original squad till October 10.
Pakistan will begin their World Cup campaign on October 24 against arch rivals India at Dubai International Cricket Stadium. It remains to be seen if the Pakistan Cricket Board will tweak the side with a few players.
However, Rashid Latif – former Pakistan captain – is strongly against the idea of making late changes to the squad. The former wicket-keeper believes that it will set a bad precedent and send a wrong message if the changes are made now.
“Changing two to three players at this moment will set a negative precedent. Whenever teams will be announced in the future, everyone will ask for changes because we will have set the wrong tradition,”
Rashid Latif was quoted as saying in Express-News.
Latif added if the PCB feels that changes are required then it means the selection committee has failed to do their job, and the chief selector Mohammad Wasim should be sacked.
“If the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) feels that changes are necessary then the first person they should remove is the Chief Selector [Mohammad Wasim]. Making changes to the squad means that the current selection committee has failed to do its job properly,”
When the PCB announced the squad for the marquee event, the selectors had come under major scrutiny for leaving out some big names. The veteran Shoaib Malik, Faheem Ashraf and Fakhar Zaman – who is in the reserve players – were the notable exclusions from the 15-member squad.
The former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar had expressed his disappointment over the announced squad and went as far as calling Wasim a puppet. The changes are expected in the squad with a few players underperforming in Pakistan’s National T20 Cup 2021.
