Bishop Stirs Debate for Excluding Saeed Anwar and Shoaib Akhtar From All-Time XI

Ian Bishop, legendary West Indian cricketer, has left cricket fans debating after he omitted some of the game’s legends from his all-time ODI XI for Pakistan, but he claims “Choosing the greatest team for any nation in any format is difficult.”

The West Indies pacer has named Imran Khan as captain of the Pakistan ODI team, while former batter Zaheer Abbas has been named as an opener; however, he has left out legendary Saeed Anwar from the side.

“They have won the World Cup under Imran Khan, whom I’ve got as the captain of the team. Zaheer Abbas is opening the batting. He is too good a player to leave out. Although most of his career he batted at No.3, it isn’t too high a jump to go to opening the batting. He has had such a wonderful career that he had to fit in there.”

The former cricketer also picked Pakistan’s current captain, Babar Azam, 1992 World Cup semi-final hero, Inzamam-ul-Haq, and the two Ws, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. Bishop, however, left out the world’s fastest bowler, Shoaib Akhtar.

“Babar Azam’s legacy in a young career is top class so he had to get in there. Inzamam-ul-Haq, the former Pakistan captain, played a role in that World Cup-winning team under Imran Khan. Then you’ve got Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram. Two stalwarts who have done yeoman’s service for Pakistan across formats,” he added.

Bishop concluded in a video on the Pakistan Cricket Board’s YouTube page that his chosen playing XI for Pakistan will leave fans divided, but he hopes that his selection represents at least some of the great cricketers.

“I hope there is still some debate. I am not saying that all of it is right by any means. But it is something that can reflect at least some part of the great history of Pakistan cricket,” he concluded.