u/Connect_Zucchini6469

Shaheen shah afridi is arguably the worst test pacer in the entire world. Anyone that excuses his performances because we play on spin friendly wickets, make that excuse for bumrah or siraj or akash deep or nahid Rana or literally any other subcontinent bowler that plays on these same types of pitches and still shows better control over their line and length. Shaheen was bowling 140-145 in the psl. Today his fastest ball reached 136 and I am pretty sure he was averaging 130. We make fun of Abbas for his lack of pace but god that man is deadly accurate, if shaheen had even 20 percent of control Abbas had id be completely fine with him in the team.

Another excuse is that what alternatives do we have? Mir hamza, khurram shehzad, akif javed who bowls 145 > consistently, hell even Hasan Ali is better than this bum.

He gets selected to play every game, he is the captain of our ODI squad, he doesn’t even deserve to make the ODI team on merit and he’s also in our t20I squad. His performances in the t20 wc were appalling. 40 against the mighty USA, 31 against India in 2 overs, almost conceded 28 runs against mighty srilanka in a must win game. Shaheen shah afridi is proof that Pakistan will never progress as a nation. We are justifying his place because of performances in the 21 wc against India and a couple of spells on Australian pace friendly conditions in the 22 wc. It is now 2026 and he has zero notable performances against big teams in ALL 3 formats between now and then. Every single player is riding off of that 152-0 game against India and I swear Pakistan cricket would be much better had we lost that match. That match made these players superstars and guaranteed that no one could drop them because obviously beating India is such a huge achievement. Their team is dominating world cricket and our biggest achievement is a cricket match that we won in a toss rigged World Cup 5 years ago.

Im seeing a lot of posts saying Babar should be back in the t20I squad. I’ll ask everyone, if Babar Azam is always a sure shot selection despite not having any performances in the 22, 24 and 26 wcs, what incentives do other players have? They know they could have the best domestic season and they would still be sidelined because well it’s Babar.

Maaz is currently striking at 180 with an average of 27 as opener.

Haris is striking at 176 averaging 25 as opener.

Farhan’s spot as opener is not under jeopardy and he will probably continue to open for Pakistan in the future.

Fakhar Zaman had an 84(42) knock in his first game as opener in a wc in a must win knockout match.

Fakhar is currently averaging 57 striking at 151.

Shan masood is striking at 160 averaging 45 whilst batting in the MIDDLE order.

Usman khan has an average of 32 whilst striking at 157 batting in the MIDDLE order.

I am not hating on Babar. I think he’s finally gotten out of his bad form and is currently back to where he left off in 21. But he has had his fair share of chances and then some. Let others play for Pakistan in T20Is. Give them an extended run and if they fail AFTER the 28 wc, only then bring Babar back. How is it fair that a player can continue to play in 21,22,24,26 and then 28 despite flopping in 3 consecutive world cups. Yall might say oh he’s the best player in Pakistan because he has the most runs. Then where are those runs when it matters most?? Where are those runs when your team is 30-3 chasing 175 vs India in the wc?? What happens then?? Shan scored runs when it mattered. Fakhar scored runs when it mattered. Farhan scored runs when it mattered. Haris can also say he scored runs when it mattered. Usman and maaz haven’t really played much internationally as compared to Babar.

TLDR: score runs when it matters.