Pakistan should not play a weak SA team: Rashid Latif criticizes CSA for leaving out key players for T20I series

Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif has lashed out at Cricket South Africa (CSA) for not selecting five of their star players for the T20I series against Pakistan later next month due to IPL commitments.

CSA recently announced the Proteas squads, which will take on Pakistan in 3 ODIs and 4 T20Is at home, starting from April 2nd.

It is important to note that the likes of Kagiso Rabada, Quinton de Kock, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi, and David Miller have been left out of the T20I squad for the Pakistan series.

CSA has cited that the reason for their non-inclusion is due to a contract with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) regarding the players' availability for IPL 2021. The T20 tournament is scheduled to commence on April 9th.

Speaking on the recent development, Rashid Latif expressed his disappointment about CSA's decision. He also questioned whether CSA would agree to play a series with Pakistan had the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) done the same thing.

“Their [CSA] calculation is good because ODI matches will count in the qualification for the 2023 World Cup. However, Rabada, Miller, De Kock, Ngidi and Nortje will be gone for the IPL during T20Is. If Pakistan had left out their five main players, would South Africa have still played with Pakistan? Then why are Pakistan playing with them?" said Latif.

South African fast bowler Dale Steyn also took to his Twitter following the announcement of the squads and questioned why mainstays in South Africa's T20 squad are not available for the series against Pakistan.

I missed the reason why our big dogs aren’t playing the T20s against Pak?

— Dale Steyn (@DaleSteyn62) March 18, 2021

The former Pakistan wicket-keeper batsman added that Pakistan should not play a weakened South African side in the upcoming series. He maintained that the two boards should have agreed on playing their full-strength squads when they were scheduling the matches.

“Pakistan should not play a weak team. When both boards decided this series, they would have decided on playing their full-strength sides. You are fooling the broadcasters by playing weakened sides," said Latif.