Shoaib Akhtar Lashes Out At ICC After Babar Azam's Exclusion From The T20I XI Of The Decade

Former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar has slammed the ICC over their selection of ICC T20I team of the decade. On Sunday, the ICC recognized the best performances of the decade and chose to reward it by placing them alongside some of the best cricketers. According to Shoaib Akhtar, it’s a shame that cricket’s apex body has not named any Pakistan player in the side.

India dominated the ICC T20I team of the team as Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni, and Jasprit Bumrah made the cut. Alongside those iconic cricketers, the side had two West Indians, two Australians, and one each from South Africa, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. However, surprisingly there was no place for any Pakistan player, given their captain holding the number one position and the nation carrying the number one ranking for at least three years.

Shoaib Akhtar assumes that ICC forgot that Pakistan is also its member and also plays T20I cricket. The 45-year old pointed out that ICC did not pick the number one T20I batsman, Babar Azam, let alone any player from the country. Akhtar added that the team announced by the ICC is not a world T20I team but an IPL outfit.

“I think ICC forgot that Pakistan is also a member of ICC and they also play T20I cricket. They did not pick Babar Azam, who is currently the number one batsman in the ICC T20I rankings. They did not pick a single player from Pakistan in the team. We don’t need your T20I team of the decade because you announced the IPL team, not a world cricket team,” Akhtar said as quoted by ANI.

ICC’s T20I XI of the decade:

Rohit Sharma, Chris Gayle, Aaron Finch, Virat Kohli, AB De Villiers, Glenn Maxwell, MS Dhoni (c), Kieron Pollard, Rashid Khan, Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga.

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