Ramiz calls on Misbah to change his selection approach and appoint youth

Former skipper Ramiz Raja called on the head coach and chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq to change his approach towards selection, noting that the Pakistan team needs to move forward with youth.

Referring to the 29-player squad announced for three Tests and as many Twenty20s against England to be played in August-September, Ramiz said he would give Misbah five out of 10 for the selection.

“Misbah doesn’t want to move forward without old faces and unfortunately it looks like that he has transferred the same thinking to the captain that you can’t win the T20 World Cup without Shoaib Malik and Muhammad Hafeez,” he said in a video on his YouTube Channel.

Ramiz, who had scored 2,833 runs in 57 Tests, said if you take a look at Malik’s stats in International Cricket Council (ICC) events over the last 10 years , he hasn’t scored one fifty in 25 matches.

“Hafeez was a good all-rounder but his form is not the same anymore. If you want to see a trailer of his performance, you can see his innings against New Zealand in the 2019 World Cup,” he said.

The former skipper further said that both Malik and Hafeez’s fielding has worsened, but somehow Misbah was convinced that T20 World Cup and matches can be won by experience.

“I would agree with him if these experienced players were world-class. Now experience has been replaced by attitude, energy, and reflexes in T20 cricket,” he said, and added that he was also seeing aged bowlers in the selection.

“I don’t want to go on individuals as it looks petty. It’s also not Malik or Hafeez’s fault who have been selected. It’s Misbah who needs to change his thinking. If you want to take Pakistan team forward in T20 then you have to overcome the challenges with the youth,” he said, and lauded the inclusion of Haider Ali and Khushdil Shah in the squad.

Ramiz said that Pakistan needed to shrug-off this thinking that matches can be won with experienced players. “You will see that Ali and Shah will prove match-winners provided the chance and confidence,” he said.

On moving forward with the youth, Ramiz said: “You should declare your plans to all the stakeholders and media that we are going to do this. We will tumble but you need to hold our hand in moving forward."