Malik finds favouritism in team selection

LAHORE: Pakistan all-rounder Shoaib Malik has accused PCB of nepotism, saying that selections in the national teams are made on the basis of players’ connections and not their performances.

“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,” he said in an interview.

“Things will improve only when importance is given to skills,” he added.

“In the recent squad there were many players who Babar [Azam] 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 with his team,” he said.

The former Pakistan captain said that players should be selected on the basis of their performance over a couple of seasons and not one or two games.

“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 said.