Pakistan Captain Babar Azam Rules Out Shoaib Malik's Comeback For T20 World Cup

Shoaib Malik’s comeback to the T20 squad before the World Cup in Australia has been ruled out by Pakistan captain Babar Azam, who stated that his team needs to give young players more opportunities to grow.

Malik, who played his 124th T20I against Bangladesh last November, has amazed in Pakistan’s domestic T20 league, and with the Asia Cup and World Cup on the edge, local news media speculated that the 40-year-experience old’s could be immensely valuable.

The former captain Babar Azam, an effective all-arounder, was left off the team for this month’s Asia Cup in the United Arab Emirates, and Babar Azam claimed that they were instead focusing on the World Cup, which will take place in October-November.

Babar Azam told journalists on Thursday before of their tour of the Netherlands: “There are games right following the Netherlands, so it is doubtful there will be time for adjustments.”

“When senior players leave the team, those who take their place must concentrate.” We will miss Mohammad Hafeez and Malik a lot, and players like Asif Ali, Khushdil Shah, and Iftikhar Ahmed must fill their shoes. “We would like to give them more than enough matches and faith, and these individuals have performed.”

‘I know Hasan Ali is not in the form’: Babar Azam

Babar believes Hasan Ali will come back to international cricket after being omitted from the one-day international series against the Netherlands and the T20 Asia Cup.

“I know Hasan Ali is out of form, but it’s not as though he has to demonstrate anything,” Babar said as Pakistan prepared to depart for the Netherlands on Thursday.

Pakistan will play three one-day internationals in Rotterdam before heading to the UAE, where they will kick off their Asia Cup campaign against archrivals India on August 28 in Dubai.

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