Ever since Najam Shetty took over as the Chief Selector of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Pakistan cricket has seen a rapid change. its appointment Shahid Afridi The national selectors arrive just days later and already a number of changes have been made to the squad, including high-profile comebacks. Sarfraz Ahmed. But, after Afridi announced that no batsman would be considered for selection in the T20 squad if his strike-rate was less than 135, Babar Azam And Mohammad Rizwan started trending on social media.

During a chat on Sama TV, Afridi said: “No batsman will be selected for Pakistan in T20Is who does not have a strike rate of more than 135 in domestic cricket”.

As the comment surfaced on social media, fans started asking what would happen to players like Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan who are not known for their strike-rate in the shorter format of the game.

Here’s how fans reacted to Afridi’s comments:

In short, according to Afridi’s model, T20 aspirants must be brainless power-hitters

None of our current players have an SR above 135 except Shadab. He has some 142+. Similarly, Babar, Rizwan have an SR of 126 and 127 respectively.

The carrot-and-stick approach may not be good here. pic.twitter.com/eLgp1Edw1B

— Azhar Khan (@azharkhn4) January 2, 2023

Babar Azam, M Rizwan, Iftekhar Ahmed, Fakhr Zaman All have SR below 135. So who will play?
1- Shaheed Afridi
2-
3-
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11- @Safridi is official
Pak 55/10
Highest Score 1-Shahid Afridi 30 (8)
57 off 120 balls to win
Shahbaz Sharif is the manager and coach of the team https://t.co/iAn2OKmNwI

— Ehtsam Talat (@EhtsamTalat) January 2, 2023

Chief selector Shahid Afridi said, “Players who do not have a strike-rate of more than 130-135 in domestic T20 matches will not be considered for selection.”

The plan to remove Babar from the team and the way for son-in-law Shaheen Afridi to take over the reins of the Pakistan T20 team seems clear.

— Omer (@CUMF0RTABLYNUMB) January 2, 2023

Babar. 127
Rizwan. 126
Fakhr 129
Iftekhar 125
Haider Ali. 126
the owner 125
Sarfaraz. 125.
Shan Masood. 121
Khushdil Shah. 110

How much time do they all have to get their SRs to 135??

— Usama Zafar (@Usama7) January 2, 2023

Meanwhile, the strike rate of Babar and Rizwan is less than 135 https://t.co/2fal1K7qhb pic.twitter.com/dq6ecSAA72

— Hitesh Lakkaraju (@LakkarajuHites6) January 2, 2023

Ah!! Afridi mentions the domestic players; Otherwise men’s international players by this standard => Babar, Rizwan and others T20 career curtain. Actually apart from Afridi only Imran Nazir has >=500 T20s @SR >=135 runs.

In 130-135: a candidate Asif Ali
Others — Pushkar Pushp (@ppushp7) January 2, 2023

It may also be noted that whether the criteria will be applicable to the current members of the Pakistan T20 team is yet to be confirmed. In all likelihood, Afridi has set a strike-rate requirement of 130-135 for budding cricketers from the domestic spectrum.

As far as the strike rates of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan go in T20Is, the former currently sits at 127.81, with 99 matches under his belt. On the other hand, the second hit 126.62 in 80 T20s.

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