Is Shoaib Malik the right pick for the World Cup?

 

Shoaib Malik’s selection in the preliminary squad for the World Cup 2019 has been a controversial decision - to say the least. 

Experts including Ramiz Raja have not welcomed the senior batsman's inclusion in the squad on the basis of the fact that he averages just 13. According to Raja, in such a long tournament like the World Cup, Pakistan should have gone with backup wicket-keeper as he was a bit worried about Sarfaraz’s fitness.

At the same time, it's interesting to note that the team does not have any back-up opener for such a long tournament i.e. the World Cup.

Mohammad Hafeez who has been the regular opener for Pakistan Cricket team previously could be a choice as a backup opener but he has not opened the innings for Pakistan in the past couple of years especially after the introduction of new rules of using two new balls in One-day internationals. It would indeed be a huge risk to experiment with Hafeez in the event like a World Cup.

Since Shoaib Malik has made his comeback in the Pakistani team, he has been the backbone of the middle order. The question is that if he is not the right pick for the World Cup, then what was the point of going with him for past three years as he was already 35 and the management could have experimented with some youngsters for that spot in the last 3 years.

 

Pakistani think-tank has invested in him from the past 3 years which shows that he was in the scheme of things for the World Cup 2019 and sudden removal of him from the side just before the World Cup does not make any sense as he has not done anything wrong with his performance.