Basit Ali happy with the return of Shoaib Malik and Kamran Akmal – Cricket News Update
Basit Ali, the former middle-order batsman from Pakistan, is happy with the return of Shoaib Malik and Kamran Akmal in the One Day International (ODI) squad for the three-match series against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/United-Arab-Emirates-c3033.
Malik, the former Test captain, having spent almost a year out of international cricket, returned to the national side last year but was miserably out of form, failing to deliver the goods, despite being given a number of chances in ODIs and T20 Internationals
against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013.
After performing well in domestic T20 events, the all-rounder made a comeback to the Pakistan team during the T20 series against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 in June.
The selectors are impressed with the former captain’s progress and have included him in the ODI squad as well, in place of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Younis-Khan-c98325, who looked completely out of sorts during the series against the Islanders.
On the other side of the coin, Kamran Akmal, the wicketkeeper/batsman from Lahore, has also returned to the national side for the first time since the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.
While speaking to Pakpassion, the former Test cricketer expressed that the two players have been great servants of the country over the years and praised the selectors’ wise decision.
Basit believes, "I think they’ve done the right thing by selecting http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755, so bringing him back is also the right decision."
The selection committee, headed by former Test cricketer, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mohammad-Iqbal-Qasim-c76980, threw some surprises in the bowling department by dropping Umar Gul, who is considered by many as the spearhead of Pakistan’s bowling attack, although he has been included in Pakistan’s
squad for the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ICC-World-Cup-2011-c100625 World T20 2012.
The former cricketer from Karachi slammed the selection of Aizaz Cheema and feels that he is not a better bowler than Gul.
"They have picked Aizaz Cheema, but not Umar Gul. Ask them why they selected http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Aizaz-Cheema-c961 is not a good bowler while Umar Gul is," the former batsman added.
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