I think ICC forgot Pakistan also play T20Is, Shoaib Akhtar slams international cricket board

Former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar slammed the International Cricket Council (ICC) for not including a single Pakistan cricketer in their Twenty20 International (T20I) Team of the Decade, saying Babar Azam should have been included.

Although Akhtar mentioned Azam is currently the No. 1 batsman in the ICC T20I rankings, the Pakistan skipper is actually ranked No. 2. England's Dawid Malan is the current top-ranked batsman in the T20Is.

In the list of most runs scored by batsmen in the T20Is in the last 10 years, Azam is not even in the top 10, while he is Pakistan's third leading run-scorer in the shortest format in this decade after Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Mallik.

"I think ICC forgot that Pakistan is also a member of ICC and they also play T20I cricket. They did not pick Babar Azam, who is currently the number one batsman in the ICC T20I rankings. There is no big player than Babar Azam in T20I. He is a top-scorer for Pakistan and his averages show what he has done for the country, even in comparison with Virat Kohli. It is so embarrassing and I'm sure after this video they will think that they have to announce the World Team of the Decade, not the IPL team," Shoaib Akhtar said on his YouTube channel.

Akhtar, who was fondly called the Rawalpindi Express, went on to accuse the ICC of announcing an IPL team instead of a World XI team.

"They did not pick a single player from Pakistan in the team. We don't need your (ICC) T20I Team of the Decade because you announced the IPL team, not a world cricket team," added Akhtar.

The former fast bowler also said that ICC has commercialised the game. "ICC only thinks about money, sponsorships and TV rights. They introduced two new balls and three powerplays (in the ODI cricket). Where is Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thomson, big five of West Indies, Wasim (Akram) and Waqar (Younis)? Where are the world's fastest bowlers and leg-spinners? They went away because

ICC commercialised and materialised cricket so much and allowed ten leagues to earn more revenue," Akhtar said.

ICC's T20I Team of the Decade: Rohit Sharma, Chris Gayle, Aaron Finch, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Glenn Maxwell, MS Dhoni (c), Kieron Pollard, Rashid Khan, Jasprit Bumrah, and Lasith Malinga