Pakistanis react to Green Shirts' exclusion from ICC Teams of the Decade

• No Pakistani player was selected for ICC's International Teams of the Decade awards in any format
• Pakistani cricketers and commentators objected to the decision, saying all players selected for men's ODI represented the Indian Premier League
• ICC had nominated three Pakistani players including Misbah-ul Haq, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Hafeez, in Men's ODI category
• Sana Mir and Javeria Khan were selected for Women’s ODI category

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Sunday announced their Teams of the Decade (TOTD) in all three formats of the game. Unfortunately, no cricketer from Pakistan was included in the list which upset several Pakistanis. 

The different playing XIs announced by the governing body are a part of ICC Awards, a programme aimed at celebrating outstanding cricketers and moments over the last ten years.

Reacting to the announcement, former Pakistani cricketer Rashid Latif took to Twitter and sarcastically wrote that the ICC has made a typographical error in the announcement and have "forgotten to [mention] the Indian Premier League (IPL) T20s team for the decade."

He made the comment as most of the players awarded the title play for the IPL.

Former Pakistani fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar also took a jibe at the ICC and wrote "as expected," in reply to Rashid Latif's tweet.

Sports journalist Sawera Pasha expressed her disappointment at the selection of awardees, saying that she is "sad to see that no Pakistani player could make it to the ICC TOTD across any of the formats. 

Read more: Misbah, Yasir only Pakistanis nominated for 'ICC Awards Of The Decade'

Objecting to the selection criteria, she wrote that she is "baffled how players like Misbah, Afridi, and Babar Azam never made it to any list based on their performance.  

Similarly, sports journalist Imran Siddiqui also questioned the eligibility criteria and pointed out that Babar Azam's exclusion from the nominations was unjustified because Indian cricketer Jasprit Bumrah was nominated as well as selected despite not having played international cricket for five consecutive years in a particular format.

Earlier in December, the ICC had nominated five Pakistani players including Misbah-ul Haq, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Hafeez, Sana Mir and Javeria Khan in Men’s and Women’s ODI Team of the Decade (TOTD) category.

However, none of these players could make it to the final playing XI of ICC ODI TOTD.

A total of five TOTD were compiled by the ICC, including three for Men's Test matches, One Day Internationals, and Twenty20 Internationals. Two of Women’s ODIs and T20Is were also nominated.

According to Geo Super, the voting academy comprised global cricket journalists and broadcasters who used "comprehensive statistics and their narratives to cast their votes."

Per the ICC, the voting academy was supposed to determine the selections in the TOTD categories using online surveys, identifying teams in the batting order, selecting a balanced team of batters, bowlers and one wicketkeeper, while also nominating a captain from their selections for each format.

Read more: ICC nominates five Pakistani cricketers for ODI team of the decade