New Delhi: Pakistan’s new white ball head coach Mike Hesson wants to bring back senior players Babar Azam and Muhammad Rizwan into the T20 fold.
Former skippers Babar and Rizwan were dropped from the 20-over format by Pakistan selectors for indifferent form over the last year.
But after being appointed to be in charge of the team, Hesson has expressed a desire to facilitate their return and has spoken with the selectors about it.
“Hesson told the selectors that he felt that Babar and Rizwan with their experience still had plenty to give to the team,” a PCB source told PTI.
“Hesson told the selectors he wanted to work with Babar and Rizwan on changing their approach and game in the shortest format and giving them another chance before taking a call on their T20 future.”
Babar and Rizwan were part of Pakistan’s disastrous T20 World Cup in June last year where they failed to advance beyond the group stage.
They were axed for the squad for the T20 series away against New Zealand in April after being in and out of the team in the shortest format.
Rizwan was then sacked from the T20 captaincy before the New Zealand trip with the Pakistan Cricket Board appointing Salman Ali Agha to lead the side.
Pakistan crashed to a 1-4 defeat in the T20 series in New Zealand after going down to series in Australia and South Africa.
Hesson’s wish to include Babar and Rizan in T20 plans was met with scepticism by senior selector Aaqib Javed. But since they have a huge wealth of experience Hesson said he wanted to see how they perform before taking a final call.
“In all likelihood you will see both back for the home series against Bangladesh later this month with some other changes in the side,” the source told PTI.
Pakistan host Bangladesh in a five-match T20 series from late May in Lahore and Faisalabad.
Former skippers Babar and Rizwan were dropped from the 20-over format by Pakistan selectors for indifferent form Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
