KARACHI: Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has been surprised by the non-selection of the two all-rounders in the T20I squad for the series against Ireland and England.
The Men in Green are in Ireland for the three-match series and will fly to England later for four games.
While talking to reporters in Karachi, Boom Boom Afridi said that they kept Mohammad Wasim Jr. for so long and now he has been dropped. He also talked about not having Aamer Jamal in the squad.
"It's surprising how after keeping Wasim Jr in the team, he was dropped," he said.
"After Abdul Razzaq, we saw a good all-rounder in Aamer Jamal, it's surprising he wasn't retained," he added.
Meanwhile, Afridi wants Babar to become a captain of a huge stature.
"A good captain takes important decisions in difficult times. We want Babar to become a great captain as much as he is a great player," he said.
"All these players have been playing for a long time, their job now is to do well in the World Cup, he maintained.
It must be noted the Men in Green will kick off the Europe tour with the first T20I on Friday. The remaining two matches will also take place at Castle Avenue on Sunday and Tuesday, before the team heads to Headingley, Leeds, on Wednesday for a series of four T20Is against England.
Ireland: Paul Stirling (c), Mark Adair, Ross Adair, Andrew Balbirnie, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Graham Hume, Barry McCarthy, Neil Rock, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Ben White, Craig Young.
Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Rizwan, Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Agha, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Usman Khan
May 10: First T20I at Clontarf
May 12: Second T20I at Clontarf
May 14: Third T20I at Clontarf