Abdur Rehman
Abdur Rehman. Image-ICC

Abdur Rehman, former Pakistan left-arm spinner, has claimed favouritism amongst the national team management. Abdur Rehman, who played Test cricket from 2007 to 2014, says that the players are either liked by the coach or the captain, and it often puts the player in a difficult spot.

The 41-year-old also alleges that players in the national team are not being judged on their on-field performances, but are being picked and dropped based on their relationship with the coach of the captain.

The former spinner asserts that the coach or the captain then tries to push the player of his disliking out of the team to include somebody he prefers on personal liking, irrespective of cricketing skills.

Abdur Rehman
Abdur Rehman. Image-Twitter

“Being a yes-man for the captain has benefits and drawbacks. When you are on good terms with the captain then the coach gets angry. A lot depends on the likes or dislikes of those involved. If the coach likes you then the captain won’t. Then one tries to take the player out because either he doesn’t like him or the player in question doesn’t spend time with him,” Abdur Rehman said in an interaction with the website ‘Cricket Pakistan’.

“They start hating the player. They don’t see how important a player is for Pakistan. They don’t look at performances or anything else then. All his previous performances or his career is forgotten and attempts are made to get the player out of the side. Whoever it is, until the player is out of the side, the person who doesn’t like him won’t be at peace. This is not good for Pakistan or the players. This is Pakistan’s team and not a team of the coach or captain,” he further stated.

They need some seniors like Shoaib Malik, Hafeez for the World Cup: Abdur Rehman

Abdur Rehman, who picked 99 wickets in 22 Tests, opines that veteran players such as Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez should be included for the T20 World Cup in the Pakistan team, which is looking inexperienced under Babar Azam, for whom the World Cup will be his maiden ICC event as a captain.

While Hafeez is playing some of the finest T20 cricket of his career, Malik is out of contention and has been dropped from the side in the last couple of series. Pakistan won the T20I and Test series in Zimbabwe; after the completion of PSL 2021, which is slated for June, they will travel to England for 3 ODIs and as many T20Is.

“The World Cup is a massive event. If you fill a team with youngsters, you can have some problems. They need some seniors who can advise players during crunch situations. Shoaib Malik is available and plays the PSL along with other leagues and performs well. Hafeez is also available. You need two or three players like these who can lead the captain in the middle since these players have captained Pakistan and in World Cups as well,” Abdur Rehman commented.

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