Pakistan captain Babar Azam has defended Hasan Ali’s inclusion in the 18-man squad for the T20I series against Ireland and England. During a press briefing ahead of the team’s trip to Ireland, Babar Azam defended the selection of the experienced right-arm pacer, stressing that Hasan’s presence was not a direct member of the 15-man World Cup squad. Rather, it was as a backup.
Babar Azam said, “I have been hearing for a long time why Hasan Ali is back. The selectors have also made it clear that he is there as a backup. It is not like he is 15 for the World Cup.
The players are part of the squad. We need to understand that he is a backup because of his experience’, “Hasan didn’t come back to the team because of just one person, he was picked by 7 selectors.
It should be noted that Pakistan’s former captain Shahid Afridi also expressed surprise at the selection of fast bowler Hasan Ali.
Shahid Afridi said ‘I was a bit surprised by the selection of Hasan Ali, maybe the selection committee thought that we needed an experienced backup bowler, but if I talk about performance, I don’t see any such performance of Hasan Ali does not come.
I was thinking that Zaman Khan or Muhammad Ali could have been selected”. Note that the Pakistan squad for Ireland and England T20 matches: Babar Azam, Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Muhammad Abbas Afridi, Muhammad Amir, Muhammad Rizwan, Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saeem Ayub, Salman Agha, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Usman Khan.
