LAHORE: Former fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar and former wicket-keeper Rashid Latif have lambasted International Cricket Council (ICC) for leaving Pakistan skipper Babar Azam out of the T20I Team of the Decade.
Shoaib said the ICC was biased in selecting the team of the decade. “I think the ICC forgot that Pakistan is also its member and plays T20I cricket. They even didn’t think that a great batsman like Babar Azam, who is the number one T20 batsman [currently ranked no. 2 in ICC T20 rankings] could also be part of this squad,” Shoaib said on his official YouTube channel.
He said the ICC had announced the Indian Premier League (IPL) XI rather than a World XI. It may be recalled that the International Cricket Council has announced the Test, ODI and T20 teams of the decade, which do not include any Pakistani cricketer. The T20I XI includes four players from India, two Australians, two West Indies players, one from South Africa and a player each from Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. No cricketer from England, New Zealand and Pakistan was included in the team.
Shoaib asked if Younis Khan was not a great player in the eyes of the ICC. “The ICC does not see anything because it does not want to see,” he said. “They didn’t pick a single player from Pakistan in the team. We don’t need your (ICC) T20I team of the Decade because probably you’ve announced the IPL team, [and] not a world cricket team,” he said.
According to Shoaib, the world game’s governing body was ruining cricket. “[Today] we don’t find a reasonable cricketer. Today not [even] a genuine fast bowler is coming [to the limelight].
“There are three powerplays [in the ODI cricket], while two new balls have been introduced and [as a result] the bowlers are being hit freely. The ICC is only concerned with money, sponsorships and TV rights.
“Where is Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thomson, big five of West Indies, Wasim and Waqar? Where are the world’s fastest bowlers and the best leg-spinners? They all have gone because the ICC has commercialised and materialised cricket.
“It has allowed ten leagues just to generate more revenue,” he said. Former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman Rashid Latif also took a dig at the ICC. Replying to ICC’s tweet, Latif termed it an Indian Premier League (IPL) Team of the Decade.
“{They forget to write IPL-T20s team for the decade},” Latif tweeted. Former Australian pacer Jason Gillespie also slammed the ICC for being partial in their announcement of the T20I XI of the decade. In a tweet, Gillespie expressed his disappointment at the absence of Babar and England’s Jos Buttler.