‘Selectors should prefer senior players for WC 19’ says Mushtaq

KARACHI (Monitoring Desk): Former Test cricketer Mushtaq Ahmed suggested the Pakistan cricket team’s management to give full chance to the senior players in the national squad for the upcoming World Cup in England and Wales.

“The combination of senior and young players would make Pakistan strong in the mega event,” said Mushtaq while speaking to the media on his return to Lahore after collecting the Asian Award for his lifetime services to cricket.

The former leg-spinner said that the skipper Sarfraz Ahmed’s mindset would matter the most for the team’s performance. “A big tournament like the World Cup, your captain needs to be mentally strong as it keeps the moral high of all the other players,” he said.

Mushtaq praised Pakistan’s ability to be so strong in a do-or-die situation and said that the team has to remain patient in a long tournament. “We need to remain calm throughout the whole tournament as we have to play overall nine matches,” he said.

Mushtaq, 48, said that spinners will play an important role in England and Shadab Khan can be a trump card for Pakistan. “Spinners have now become an asset for the teams in the shorter format of the game and I believe that their role will be decisive in the upcoming extravaganza,” he said.

It is pertinent to mention here that the green shirts will start their World Cup campaign playing against West Indies on May 31 at Trent Bridge. Before that, they will play England in the five-match ODI series.