Virender Sehwag did not mince his words as he went on to expose hypocrisy in Pakistan cricket.
Former India cricketer Virender Sehwag did not mince his words as he went on to expose hypocrisy in Pakistan cricket after the Green Army’s early exit from the T20 World Cup 2024. Babar Azam and Co.have come under fire following their exit from the Super 8 stage of the ongoing marquee event. Their side suffered a humiliating loss to the United States, which is a side that isn’t involved in the Test cricket. It caused the Pakistani team a major setback and gave them a reality check. In addition, the Men in Green lost their poise when they faced arch-rivals India, which resulted in their exit from the group stage.
Mohammad Amir and Imad Wasim’s retirements and comebacks, as well as Babar Azam’s re-appointment as skipper, have been the buzz of the town as the Pakistani team faces criticism from all sides. In the same vein, cricketer turned analyst Virender Sehwag took a dig at PCB chief selector Wahab Riaz for selecting Amir in the squad for the 2024 T20 World Cup. The former India opener reveals that Wahab Riaz and Mohmmad Amir were criticising their national team during the ODI World Cup 2023.
“Wahaz Riaz and Mohammad Amir are the two names who used to give their opinions on Pakistan TV news channels against their national team. Now one of them is a selector and the other is in playing XI. They were criticising the team once and now when they have come to power, what are they doing?,” Virender Sehwag said on Cricbuzz during a discussion.
Amir, who retired from all international cricket matches in 2021 after being found accused of spot-fixing in 2011, made the decision to return to the Pakistan team after the PCB management shift. To his credit, Amir took seven wickets at an economy of 4.50 and an average of 10.28 in his four matches in the 2024 T20 World Cup. However, Pakistan’s unexpected loss in the opening match of the tournament came due to his costly Super Over of 18 runs against the USA.
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Following the same, the 2007 T20 World Cup winning star alleged that Riaz has to use his power in the right way after keeping the future side in mind over favoritism. The former batting legend cited this example involving Indian selector Ajit Agarkar and his companion Zaheer Khan during the Cricbuzz Hindi show.
“Amir has played with me so let’s take him in the team. This can’t be done. Now that Ajit Agarkar is the chairman of selectors for BCCI, he would say ”come Viru, come Zak, I’ll help you make a comeback into the team’. This is not done. You have to see the future. You have become a selector, you have a job in hand. Use it in the right way, don’t do favours,” he added further.
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