Subhan Ahmed backs the selection of Shoaib Malik

Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Subhan Ahmed, has backed the selection of Shoaib Malik for the tour of Zimbabwe and said that the former captain is selected because of his performances, rather than political interference.

The all-rounder had been out of the Pakistan team since the last one year as he was not given clearance by the integrity committee of PCB. However, he has recently provided all the documentation of the banking transactions and hence has been cleared to play for the country.

Malik was earlier named in the reserve players for the tour of Zimbabwe and after his clearance; he has been immediately drafted in the squad.

Subhan is of the view that Malik can be extremely useful for Pakistan in future because of his experience and the ability to change the course of the game singlehandedly.

He said, “Shoaib Malik is a flexible player. He is not only capable of hitting big shots but can rotate the strike with good placement. He has displayed good defensive batting at times. His inclusion in the team will boost the morale of other players.”

The COO further supported his argument citing Malik's exceptional performances in the domestic cricket of Pakistan, and feels that the all-rounder deserves to be in the national team.

“Although he has been away from international cricket for quite some time, he has been performing well in domestic cricket,” said Subhan.

While talking about the squad for the tour of Zimbabwe, Subhan claimed that the PCB decided to rest the senior bowlers in order to make sure that they are fresh for the future assignments.

“They are important members of national outfit but we wanted to provide them some rest. Take for example India. Had their key players taken some rest, their performance would have been much better,”  Subhan said.

The inclusion of Malik is surely going to boost the middle-order batting of the Pakistan team and the cricket fans in the country will be hoping that the former captain can display good form in International cricket as well, after a run of good performances in national cricket.