Mohammad Hafeez slams selectors for leaving Shoaib Malik out of Pakistan's T20 World Cup squad

Pakistan captain Mohammad Hafeez has lashed out at the national selectors for ignoring seasoned allrounder Shoaib Malik for the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia. Hafeez said he had advised Malik to take retirement after last year's World Cup as he knew they would no longer be part of the Pakistan team set-up. "I don't even know whether he will get a proper farewell now which he should, given his 22 years of international cricket.

Because as things stand after his recent tweet where he highlighted friendships, liking and disliking in the team many are unhappy with him," Hafeez told the CricketPakistan channel. "Malik gave his best to Pakistan for about 21-22 years and maintaining your fitness standards for that long is absolutely remarkable. "When I took my retirement, I told Malik to take retirement as well because I knew that he will not be respected as it was also evident in my case.

My understanding was that he wanted one last standing but cricket is cruel like this." Hafeez said after the 2019 World Cup he had suggested to the management to give Malik a farewell game. "They didn't entertain my suggestion at all, not realising his services he should have got a match. Our management has always been lacking when it comes to bidding them a farewell," he maintained.

Hafeez said if Malik had played in the World Cup, the team would have got a senior player. "Don't talk about how he cannot play cut or pull, don't forget that he played cricket for 22 years so he didn't play these shots? We need to understand; we need proper cricketers with whom we can make winning combinations whether he is 40 or 20," he said. Hafeez, who himself retired earlier this year from international cricket, described Pakistan's selected batters,