ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistan spinners Tauseef Ahmed and Saqlain Mushtaq have exchanged allegations over the selection of all-rounder Shadab Khan in the national team, with the dispute centring on claims of favoritism.
Tauseef Ahmed alleged during a social-media programme that Saqlain Mushtaq had supported his son-in-law Shadab Khan and questioned whether the player’s recent performances justified his selection.
Tauseef claimed that Saqlain had contacted him by phone and had also sent a message through another person regarding the matter. He said he had a recording of the alleged communications.
“Wrong is wrong,” Tauseef said, arguing that selecting a player despite inadequate performances would be unfair to other cricketers. He also questioned the omission of Sufiyan Muqeem.
Saqlain Challenges Recording Claim
Responding on social media, Saqlain Mushtaq rejected the allegation and challenged Tauseef to make the alleged recording public.
Saqlain said he had contacted Tauseef because he regarded him as a senior and had spoken to him respectfully. He called for the issue to be discussed on the basis of facts and rejected what he described as distorted or inaccurate representations of the conversation.
Saqlain further claimed that he also had a complete record of the matter. He said that if Tauseef released his recording publicly, he would also release his own record so that the public could hear the exchanges and form its own view.
The dispute comes amid scrutiny over Shadab Khan’s place in Pakistan’s national setup and broader discussions about selection decisions and player performance.
Neither the alleged recording nor the competing claims made by the two former cricketers independently establish that favoritism influenced Shadab’s selection.