Picture Credit: Twitter
The Pakistan cricket team suffered a heartbreaking loss in the final of the 2022 Asia Cup against Sri Lanka. The Men in Green had the upper hand after reducing the Lankans to 58 for 5 but soon lost the advantage as Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Waindu Hasaranga took the total to 171. In the second innings, the Pakistan were bundled out for 147.
Reacting to this defeat, former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik, who has been out of the team after the last T20 World Cup, has tweeted a cryptic message which could be attributed to his non-selection for Asia Cup. Malik’s tweet said, “When will we come out from friendship, liking & disliking culture. Allah always helps the honest…” Former Pakistan wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal responded to the tweet, saying "Ustad G don’t be this much honest."
Shoaib Malik has not played cricket for the national team since November 2021 after the all-rounder played an important role in Pakistan’s run to reach the semi-final of the T20 World Cup last year. Hence there were a lot of questions about Shoaib Malik's exclusion from the Asia Cup squad despite being in good form.
Malik, previously, had also spoken about a similar issue in the PCB's selection criteria while speaking to a noted Pakistan journalist, stating that the players are picked on of their contacts and not on their skills. He had said, "We have a system of liking and disliking in our cricket, which is something that is present in the rest of the world as well but seems to be a bit more in our culture.
“The day things change in our cricket system where more importance is given to skills rather than who a person knows, only then will things improve. In the recent squad there were many players who Babar wanted to pick, but they weren't selected. Everyone has their opinions but the final decision on selection should be that of the captain because it's he who will fight it out on the ground with his team,” he further continued.