Ahmed Shahzad speaking during a TV SHOW:
“Haseebullah was being talked about as the next choice, where is he?. He even went with Shaheens, performed there with 50 average. He is an international player, a senior player, yet when he goes to play domestic cricket, he is benched there. His thinking must be: ‘My every match counts for me, I have to play for Pakistan, and I just scored runs with an average of 50 for A-side. My every performance is important, so why am I not playing?’ He even asked the coach, Misbah-ul-Haq, what was going on, and it must have hurt his ego, and then he was benched for the whole season.”
“But the matter didn’t stop there. Let’s assume you didn’t take that question to heart, but if you stop his salary, that’s another issue. His salary didn’t come for 3-4 months. Since when have we started doing this—blocking people’s salaries?”
“Later, when the team was announced, and his name was not there, then he called Mike Hesson to ask about it, like ’What’s happening, what should I do, why am I sidelined?’ But he was told that three or four people were making the team—Khurram Niazi, Mike Hesson, the chief selector, and Misbah-ul-Haq, who is their advisor.”
“Even within the selection committee, they said, “This guy has an attitude problem, a discipline problem.” They were deciding on that basis. But what is their criteria? To judge someone’s discipline record like this, to play with the future of players just because of these things? And he’s not the only one.”
“All these things happen only when merit is ignored, and players are chosen based on personal likes and dislikes. Just like they said about Abdul Samad—what performance has he given? Tell me, how easy have they made it?”