Former Pakistan batsman and legend Javed Miandad gave a bold response to Pakistan batsman Ahmed Shehzad after he claimed that he can play for another 12 years and represent Pakistan. In an interview with Cricket Pakistan, Shehzad said that he still hopes to represent Pakistan as he has learnt from his past experiences.
“The past two years have been tough for but I have learned a lot in that span of time and hopefully this will prove beneficial in my upcoming years in cricket. Bearing in mind my fitness and skills, I think I can represent Pakistan for another 12 years and that is not an exaggeration” he said.
However, Miandad was not too pleased with his statement as he criticised him on a Youtube video and asked him to let his performance with the bat do the talking. He also warned him that other players will be preferred over him if he fails to perform consistently.
“You [Ahmed Shehzad] can play for 20 years rather than just 12, I guarantee you that but you need to perform. If you perform daily nobody will drop you from the side. If other players are performing then they will be preferred over you with regards to playing for the national side,’ Miandad said.
The former Pakistan batsman also criticised the selectors and the system of Pakistan cricket. He believes a player gets chance to play in straight ten matches if he manages to score a hundred. Miandad also demanded that a player needs to perform in at least 8 matches out of the 10 matches to play in the national team.
“Players should not give such irresponsible statements and instead let their performance do the talking on the field. In other countries, players get selected on a series by series basis. But in Pakistan, you get to play 10 matches based on just one century. This is partly the reason why there are problems with our team. As a player you should have good performance in eight out of 10 matches you play on average,” he concluded.
Shehzad has played 13 Tests, 81 ODIs and 59 T20Is for Pakistan. However, he last featured for Pakistan in an ODI and in Test cricket was back in 2017 while he played in a T20I game against Sri Lanka last year in the shortest format of the game.
The opening batsman played for Quetta Gladiators this season in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and he had a disastrous season with the bat. He has scores of 0, 9, 10, 12, 11, 12 and 7 in seven matches, which might have closed the door even more for Shehzad in the national team.
