Recently, Babar Azam expressed his despair with Pakistan’s cricket selecting committee. Azam was not pleased with the squad which was selected for the South African tour. He went ahead and said that the squad selection was very disappointing.

The selection committee created more headlines when they ignored Babar Azam’s suggested squad for the Zimbabwe series. Now, Pakistani ace Shoaib Malik has claimed that selections are made in the team on the basis of ‘who knows people in the system’.

Pakistan’s all-rounder Shoaib Malik has accused the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) of nepotism, saying that selections in the national team are made on the basis of players’ connections and not their performances.

Shoaib Malik Accuses PCB Of Nepotism, Admits To Put His Career At Risk

“We have a system of liking and disliking in our cricket, which is something that is present in the rest of the world as well but seems to be a bit more in our culture. The day things change in our cricket system where more importance is given to skills rather than who a person knows, only then will things improve,” Malik was quoted as saying by Pakistani journalist Saj Sadiq.

Malik said that the captain should have command over the selection and his decision should be the final while also claiming he’s ready to put his career at risk rather than being quiet on the matter.

“In the recent squad there were many players who Babar wanted to pick, but they weren’t selected. Everyone has their opinions but the final decision on selection should be that of the captain because it’s he who will fight it out on the ground he with his team”, Shoaib said.

“Whatever is in my fate is in the hands of the Almighty and not in any person’s control. I will have no regrets if I am not asked to play again, but I would have felt more regret if I had not spoken up on behalf of my fellow cricketers,” Malik conceded.

Shoaib Malik said things in Pakistan Cricket will improve if more importance is given to skills backing skipper Babar Azam. Cases of fixing, bias and a number of other issues in Pakistan cricket have often surfaced. Shoiab Malik wants the selection should be purely on the basis of their merits.

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