On Friday night, former Pakistan cricketer Mohammad Asif joined a controversial X space where he made hurtful and offensive comments about players part of the World Cup 2023 squad.
Former Pakistan cricketer Mohammad Asif claimed that he selected current captain Babar Azam for the national team after seeing him play only two balls but criticized his performance in the powerplay in T20 cricket.
He also said that Pakistan doesn't have any special bowlers in their squad for the World Cup 2023.
Pakistan announced their World Cup squad after much consideration and long talks between Chief Selector Inzamam ul Haq, skipper Babar Azam and the Technical Committee members Mohammad Hafeez and Misbah ul Haq.
Pakistan will kick off their World Cup campaign on October 6 by taking on the Netherlands in Hyderabad.
Pakistan will take on India in the most-anticipated match of the World Cup on October 14 at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmadabad in front of 132,000 spectators.
Pakistan squad for ICC World Cup 2023
Babar Azam (c), Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, M Wasim Jnr, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Saud Shakeel, Salman Ali Agha.
Pakistan squad for ICC World Cup 2023
Babar Azam (c), Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, M Wasim Jnr, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Saud Shakeel, Salman Ali Agha.
Travelling reserves: Mohammad Haris, Abrar Ahmed, Zaman Khan.
Here are the highlights of what Mohammad Asif said in the X space.
- Our bowling squad is average, there are no special bowlers.
- We don't have a replacement for Babar Azam as captain right now. Shahid Afridi is trying to get Shaheen Afridi to become captain, but it's difficult.
- Shaheen Afridi shouldn't play against small teams like Nepal. I never played against teams like West Indies and Bangladesh in my career, because a fast bowler needs rest to prolong his career. These days bowlers play league cricket a lot because of the money.
- I don't consider Agha Salman to be a good player. He's a waste of time. Even I can score the number of runs he does, and he only scores runs when Pakistan has already scored a lot.
- I can bowl a maiden over to Babar Azam in T20 cricket even today. He can't hit the ball if you bowl good deliveries to him.
- The PCB offered me a job at the National Cricket Academy for Rs1.1 million monthly. I told them I earned the same amount in a week in the USA. I asked them to give me the same salary as Mickey Arthur, which is Rs4.5 million a month.
- He called many players "parchis" including surprise inclusion in World Cup squad, Hasan Ali, and said they were part of the lobby.
- In a clip that has gone viral on social media, he is seen verbally abusing the young pace-bowling sensation Ihsanullah.
