Pakistan will return to action on December 26 when the side takes on New Zealand in the first Test of the two-match series at home. The Babar Azam-led side has come under heavy criticism following a 0-3 clean sweep defeat to England earlier this month; Ben Stokes‘ men produced a stunning display of aggressive cricket as they dominated the home side throughout the series. Babar’s captaincy has also come under the scanner, and so has the team selection decisions.

For the series against New Zealand, Pakistan have continued to omit one of their star spinner Yasir Shah; the 36-year-old wasn’t a part of the squad against England in the Test series as well, and Pakistan’s veteran wicketkeeper-batter Kamran Akmal is not too pleased with Yasir’s exclusion. Taking to his official YouTube account, Akmal blasted the Pakistan team management for the spinner’s omission, claiming that no team around the world has a spinner like Yasir.

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“Yasir Shah, he’s our match-winner, an experienced player has been sidelined. I just can’t understand what he did wrong. He just didn’t perform in 1-2 matches and he has been completely sidelined. You just don’t let him near the team. You didn’t even play him in the last series. You have to utilize him, no team in the world has such a leg-spinner,” Akmal said.

“Jack Leach ko England team use kar rahi hai, vo Yasir Shah ke ek ungli ke baraabar nahi hai. (He’s not even close to Yasir Shah’s finger) But that’s the mindset, if they’ve decided they won’t play a player, that’s it. The team management needs to do away with liking and disliking players, we have been humbled enough. Go for improvements now. You need to think about it now,” Akmal stated further.

Earlier, Pakistan Cricket Board saw a transition on Wednesday as former captain Ramiz Raja was sacked as chairman after the 3-0 Test series whitewash by England. Najam Sethi was named as his interim replacement.

Raja, who played more than 250 international matches from 1984 to 1997, had taken over from Ehsan Mani who stepped down from the role in 2021.