Babar Azam calls for Shoaib Malik's inclusion in T20I squad - Reports

The upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2021 is scheduled to start on October 17 in Oman and UAE. The top eight teams are busy finalizing the combinations and squads for the global event. While few teams like Australia and New Zealand have already announced their team for T2O World Cup, Pakistan still has a lot to figure out. The Pakistan batting is laced with stroke-makers but the team lacks stability in the middle order. With Mohammad Hafeez not in the best of form, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam wants veteran all-rounder Shoaib Malik in the team for the T20Is.

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Pakistan are set to play New Zealand for a five-match T20I series and Azam wants Malik to be in the team owing to the experience he brings to the table. Malik last played for Pakistan in September 2020. Recently, the team’s middle-order copped a fair bit of criticism for not delivering once Azam or Mohammad Rizwan was dismissed early. Hence the Pakistani skipper feels Malik can lend some solidarity to the middle-order.

As reported by Cricket Pakistan, Azam has asked Wasim to have Malik in the squad in the shortest format but the chief selector is not in favour of the same.

Lately, Malik has been in good form scoring some brisk runs in the Kashmir Premier League (KPL). The right-hand batter so far has scored 240 runs in just seven games and hence Azam thinks he can add value to the national team as well. 

Over the past two years, the Men in Green have played some fantastic cricket in the shortest format and have beaten some top teams along the way. With the T20 World Cup set to be held in Oman and UAE, Pakistan is one of the favourites to reach the top four due to conditions being more to their liking.