Current chief Selector Shahid Afridi criticized Pakistani batters for their strike rate. He recently stated on Pakistan news channel that batters who do not have a strike rate of 130-135 or higher will not be selected for the T20I team. He indirectly targeted Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam for their T20 strike rate.
Rizwan and Babar both have a strike rate of less than 130 in T20I. Afridi stated that this is the criteria he is establishing for domestic batters who want to play for Pakistan in T20Is. This follows criticism of Pakistan’s batters strike rate in the shortest format, which was evident during the T20 World Cup. Pakistan reached the final of T20 World Cup 2022 but their approach towards cricket was highly questionable.
“Batters will no longer be selected in T20s for Pakistan who have a strike rate below 130-135 in domestic cricket,” Shahid Afridi, chief selector said during his conversation with Samaa TV
Cricket fans on Twitter made fun of this statement by Afridi. If this rule is strictly applied then both Babar Azam and Rizwan will not be selected for T20 in the future. Babar Azam’s strike rate in PSL is 121 whereas Mohammad Rizwan’s strike rate if 123 which is way too low.