Chief Selector Haroon Rasheed said on Wednesday downplayed the controversy surrounding exclusion of Sarfraz Ahmed in the recently concluded T20 series against Sri Lanka saying that there was nothing wrong if the wicketkeeper batsmen was given rest because of team requirements.
"Sarfraz was part of the national team in Test and ODI series against Sri Lanka and if the management decided to give him rest in the T20 series it should not be made a controversial issue," he told APP.
He said that Sarfraz's exclusion from the team should have been taken positive as he was a constant performer for quite some time and it would have possible the team management wanted to give chance to some other players to check their performance.
Rasheed said he believed the team management would have taken Sarfraz Ahmed onboard before deciding to provide him rest in the T20 series. "He (Ahmed) is vice-captain and an important member of the team and it is not possible he was not taken into confidence before deciding to provide him rest," he added.
He said that instead of raising non-issues the selection committee should have been appreciated for selecting players who performed well in all formats of the game against Sri Lanka.
"There is no point to criticize the management if the team perform well and win matches," he said adding that the strategy against Sri Lanka worked out and Pakistan outfit returned victorious in all the three formats.
Sarfraz Ahmed's exclusion from the T20 series caused a big uproar, forcing the PCB chairman to state that he would talk to T20 skipper Shahid Afridi and head coach Waqar Younis to find out the reasons for not playing him.
Several former cricketers including chief selector Mohsin Khan had expressed surprise to see Sarfraz Ahmed out of the team. "You don't drop such a match-winner to shatter his confidence. He has been winning matches for Pakistan for the last two years but he is yet to be treated fairly," Mohsin had stated.