Is Ahmed Shehzad Returning to the Pakistan Cricket Team?

According to a certain section of the media, Pakistan’s opening batter, Ahmed Shehzad is set to make a return to the Pakistan T20I squad.

According to the details, Ahmed Shehzad participated in a five-day training camp in preparation for the upcoming New Zealand T20I series along with several other players. This training camp was conducted under the guidance of Yasir Arafat, the High-Performance Coach of the Pakistan cricket team.

The rumors were also circulating that he would surely come back to Pakistan cricket and join the T20I squad, which had already been announced earlier.

The campaign to bring back Ahmed Shehzad to the Pakistan Cricket Team was in full flow on social media as a video has been circulating showing Ahmed Shehzad holding a Pakistan training kit and kissing the shirt as he prepared to join the Pakistan training camp.

Ahmed Shehzad was not selected by any team in the recent Pakistan Super League (PSL) draft for season 9. As a result, he decided to quit PSL after not being chosen by any of the six franchises in the player drafting process.

Shahzad expressed his disappointment on X (formerly Twitter) by saying, “Once again, the PSL draft has come and gone, and I didn’t get selected. I don’t understand why!”

The hype and PR surrounding him suggested that some of his fans wanted him back in Pakistan’s colors, given his good performance in the domestic circuit. However, he was not selected for the Pakistan squad.

The 32-year-old played a total of 153 matches for Pakistan. He was also the first Pakistani batter to smash a T20I hundred, which he achieved in the ICC T20 World Cup 2014 against Bangladesh. He played his last T20I game for Pakistan in 2019 and has not been seen playing for the Green Shirts since then.

Despite the campaign on social media, it is highly unlikely Ahmed will be back in the national side as the competition at the top of the order is at an all-time high.