Pakistan cricket team head coach and chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq has explained the reason why ace pacers Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz haven’t got a place in the new central contracts list.
Notably, country’s star all-rounder Hasan Ali is also missing in the list.
“The selectors have made the tough decisions to leave out Aamir, Hasan and Wahab but considering Hasan missed most of the season due to an injury and Aamir and Wahab decided to focus on white-ball cricket, this was the right move,” Misbah said in a press release issued by the Pakistan Cricket Board.
Amir, who has 259 wickets (119 Tests) for Pakistan across all formats, decided to quit the longest format in July 2019. Meanwhile, his fellow left-arm pacer Wahab Riaz, who has 228 wickets (83 Tests), also bid adieu to the red-ball format following him.
While Hasan was dropped simply because of his injury problems since the World Cup 2019, rumours suggest that Wahab and Aamir have been punished by PCB for deciding to quit red-ball cricket.
“…Aamir and Wahab are experienced bowlers and they remain in contention as we believe they can still contribute to the Pakistan cricket team and also mentor our young battery of fast bowlers,” said Misbah.
“The philosophy and criteria for this merit-based central contract list was simple and straightforward: the selectors reviewed player performances in the past 12 months and then looked ahead to our team requirements in the forthcoming 12 months,” he added.