Former Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Asif made some shocking statements against the men's national team and captain Babar Azam during his review of the squad picked for the upcoming ICC World Cup 2023.
Asif called out Babar Azam for his batting skills, referred to Salman Agha as a waste of time and even claimed that Hasan Ali was picked for the tournament in India due to his connections in Pakistan cricket.
"I can bowl a maiden over to Babar Azam in T20 cricket even today, he cannot hit the ball if you bowl good deliveries to him.
"We don't have a choice right now to replace Babar Azam as captain. Shahid Afridi is trying for Shaheen Afridi to become captain, but it's not easy," Asif said on Twitter space.
"I selected Babar Azam in the trials after he faced two balls only, you can ask his father that I picked Babar in ZTBL trials. I rate him highly, he is one of the best batters in the country but he plays dots in the power-play and puts pressure on Rizwan."
He also gave an average rating to Pakistan's current bowling attack which is led by Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf along with Hasan Ali, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Wasim and Salman Agha.
"We have all average bowlers in the squad, there's none special.
"I don't consider Agha Salman as a player, he's a waste of time. Even I can score the number of runs he scores. He only scores when Pakistan has already scored a lot of runs as a team.
"Hasan Ali is part of the lobby, he eats with Babar Azam and other players. He is in the team because he is part of the lobby, this used to be the case when we used to play too. A lobby doesn't select players from outside," Asif said.
