Aside from bringing up the problem of “favoritism” in the Pakistan team, the seasoned bowler also argued that chronological age should not be the deciding factor in who makes the squad.
Veteran pacer Wahab Riaz, hoping to make a comeback to the national team, has spoken out about the problem of favoritism during Ramiz Raja’s time as Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Wahab, who was appointed on Friday as the Sports Minister of Pakistan’s Punjab state, has criticized former head selector Muhammad Wasim’s selection process and raised questions about the omission of experienced players from the national team. Former Pakistani player Wahab called Wasim a “laptop chief selector” in 2020.
“In charge of picking out laptops, [Wasim] made a bad choice. Imad Wasim, Shoaib Malik, and Sarfaraz Ahmed were among the players he should have included, but he gave no good reason for leaving them off. Both Shoaib and Imad had successful tournaments in the T20 World Cup 2021. His curiosity about their performance was piqued because it had not yet appeared on his computer. Why didn’t they get any consideration for the T20 World Cup in Australia in 2022? We don’t understand what went wrong “Wahab was quoted on this by Cricket Pakistan.
He also brought up “favoritism” in the Pakistan team, arguing that age shouldn’t be the only factor in player selection.
“So far as I’m aware, Ramiz Bhai was the last person of authority. The main selector had to talk to us, but in our culture, you only speak to those who agree with you all the time. The folks who can best defend their position are not the ones you should be trying to reach. Favoritism should be kept to a minimum. It’s unfair to force older players to the bench under the pretext that they’re too old to compete. If age matters, then everyone must follow the same guideline “the man continued.
Wahab has not given up on making a comeback after being cut from the Pakistan team in 2020.
