Former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik and senior player Abdul Razzaq have dismissed rumors that they were sent back home from South Africa because of disciplinary issues.
“It is all rubbish. We faced no disciplinary issue at all with the team management or anyone else,” Malik said after the duo returned from South Africa.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced that Malik and Razzaq had been ruled out of the ongoing One-Day International series because of fitness issues.
Malik confirmed PCB’s version and said that he had split his finger during the last Twenty20 match against South Africa in Dubai while Razzaq said he had a strained hamstring and had been advised 10 days rest.
The two were recalled to the Pakistan team for the T20 series against South Africa in the UAE and played in both the games without leaving an impact but were still retained for the tour to rainbow nation.
Their sudden return home from South Africa has led to rumors that the two senior players had some disciplinary issues with the team management.
“Nothing of this sort has happened because we were preparing for the series when Razzaq got injured in the nets while I had sustained the finger injury in Dubai,” Malik said.
The former captain was also upset about reports in the media questioning the reasons behind his inclusions in the Pakistan team inpsite of repeated failures.
“I was the top-scorer in CPL (Caribbean Premier League), then in first class, ODI and Twenty20 tournaments (domestic),” he said.
Malik also felt it was unfair for people to judge his performances on basis of T20 cricket alone.
If Shoaib had been retained in 50over squad, Pakistan would have lost the game. This guy is part of the Rot that has brought our cricket to its decline.
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