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Pakistan head coach Misbah ul Haq is unhappy after the selection of overweight Sharjeel Khan in Pakistan’s T20I squad for the upcoming South Africa tour.
Since taking charge of the men at Green, Misbah has stressed the importance of fitness in international cricket. However, chief selector Mohammad Wasim does not appear to be on the same page as the head coach.
According to sources, Misbah believes Sharjeel’s squad inclusion will pave the way for more ‘unfit’ players in the Pakistan team. On an international tour a few years ago, Misbah asked then-head coach Mickey Arthur to send Sharjeel back to Pakistan because he weighed 96kg. Now the opener weighs 112kg, which Misbah finds unacceptable for international cricket. He is also shocked that the leg-spinner Yasir Shah was overlooked for fitness reasons, but the same measure did not apply to Sharjeel.
Sources added that Sharjeel is unlikely to feature in the playing XI, despite being selected in the squad.
Some media reports recently claimed that Pakistan captain Babar Azam was also unhappy with some of the squad’s selections and shared his complaints with PCB chief executive Wasim Khan.
However, the PCB representative says there is no truth in the above reports and said all decisions were made after discussions between the selector and team management.
