Pakistan selectors have announced a young team for the upcoming T20 Asia Cup. Not only veteran Shoaib Malik is not there, but all-rounder-Imad Wasim has also been dropped from the squad, while fast bowler Naseem Shah has replaced Hasan Ali.

One may argue that Shoaib Malik is in his forties, but why has Imad been dropped? Replying to this question, skipper Babar Azam has said that currently Mohammad Nawaz is performing well in white-ball cricket and has won Pakistan matches. "The way he is performing, he must continue, however, Pakistan will definitely include Imad in the team whenever required," he said at a press conference before departing for the Netherlands series.

Babar claimed that the best team has been selected after consultation with the coach. He argued that Malik, Mohammad Hafeez and Imad were dropped because other performers - Asif Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed and Khushdil Shah - are performing well. The Asia Cup is immediately after the Netherlands tour, so there is no possibility of a change in the team, Babar said.

Malik's absence from the squad disappointed his fans. Fans believe that Malik should have been included in the Asia Cup squad due to his vast experience.

The middle order is quite inexperienced without him, especially against arch-rival India. No doubt Asif, Iftikhar and Khushdil are talented players, but we can't depend on them due to their inconsistent performances.

Pakistan need an experienced middle order batsman like Malik who can play according to the situation and hit biggies when required. He is a great middle-order batsman in the shortest format of the game, a spectacular fielder and a handy bowler.

Malik, who retired from Tests five years ago with 1898 runs in 35 matches, has said nothing about when he would quit international cricket.

Malik is Pakistan's leading run-scorer in Asia Cup ODIs so far. He has scored 907 runs in 21 matches with an average of 64.78.

He last played for the national team in a T20I series against Bangladesh last year.

Malik has played a record 124 T20 Internationals. He has scored 2435 runs, averaging 31.21. Overall, he has played 472 T20s, scored 11,698 runs with 71 fifties. He also has 158 wickets.

Malik is the third in the world and first Asian batsman to have completed 10,000 T20 runs. The first two are West Indies' Chris Gayle (14,562 runs) and Kieron Pollard (11,769 runs).

Former fast bowler Aaqib Javed says Pakistan has not yet found a replacement for Malik.

Two year back, there was a war of words on social media between former opener Ramiz Raja, who is now PCB chairman, and Malik.

Ramiz advised Malik and Hafeez to retire from international cricket to create space for youngsters. Ramiz's argument was that Pakistan had a good pool of young players and must move ahead with them.

He said both Malik and Hafeez had horrible World Cup campaigns in England in 2019. But Hafeez and Malik insisted they still had plenty of cricket left in them. Shoaib claimed that with his high fitness level, he could play 50-overs cricket even in 2023.

Last year when there was speculation that the former captain would say goodbye to international cricket, Malik said: "I am saying very clearly today I have not even thought about retirement. I have no plans to retire now because I am fit, I can bat, I can bowl."

Malik, who captained the national team during the 2007 T20 World Cup, is the most experienced cricketer in the current setup and is Pakistan's third highest run-scorer in the shortest format.

Malik played 287 ODIs, and scored 7534 runs, averaging 34.55 with nine centuries and 44 fifties. He is a fine batsman of spin bowling, but his average is surprisingly low against fast bowlers. He is the only player who has batted from the first position to the 10th.

Against India, Malik averaged 46.89. He scored four centuries and 11 fifties against India. His best ODI score, 143, also came against India.

But against Australia, England and New Zealand, on their soil, he averages 30.78, 13.07 and 10.44, respectively.

Malik's performance has remained under par in major ICC tournaments. He averaged 16.66 and 23.75, in World Cup and Champions Trophy, respectively. Interestingly, he played only six World Cup matches in his 22-year career, and scored 100 runs with a low average of 16.66.

Malik flourished as a batsman under the captaincy of former skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq and coach Bob Woolmer. The former had also identified Malik as a future captain. Following Woolmer's tragic death and Inzamam's retirement after ICC World Cup 2007, Malik was selected to lead Pakistan when Younis Khan rejected the offer.

In 33 innings as captain, mostly at No 5 and a few times as an opener, Malik notched up 1,225 runs at an average of 43.75. He scored one century and 10 fifties during that period.

In the domestic circuit, Malik has been a very successful captain. As skipper of Sialkot Stallions, he won a record eight domestic T20 titles.

From 2009 to 2013, he batted at various positions - from No 3 to 8 - and in 39 ODI innings managed only 741 runs at an average of 21.17. As a result, he was dropped. However, he made a remarkable comeback in 2015.

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