Pakistan opening batter Ahmed Shehzad has said that senior players in the side don't get happy "seeing someone succeed". He also highlighted the examples of Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni to state his point, and he even went on to say that Kohli became such a big name as he had the support of Dhoni. Shehzad has been out of favour for a long period now, and way back in 2016, then coach Waqar Younis had advised him to return to domestic cricket.
"I have said this before and I will say it again, Kohli's career picked off amazingly because he found MS Dhoni but unfortunately, here in Pakistan, your own people cannot stand your success. Our own senior players and ex-cricketers cannot digest seeing someone succeed in the cricketing world, which is unfortunate for Pakistan cricket," Shehzad told Cricket Pakistan.
"Kohli's been struggling for form for the past two years, I was cast aside after two matches. I was told to perform in the Faisalabad tournament and I was the highest score there but still I was not handed another chance," he added.
When asked about the remarks made by Waqar Younis, Shehzad said: "I have not seen the report myself but a PCB official told me that these remarks have been said regarding me. But I believe that these things should be discussed face-to-face and I am ready to take on that challenge. Then we will see who is right and who is wrong.”
"Maybe I have more things to say and I might even have a bigger reach than them but I opt to stay quiet because you need to live up to your own standards. But their words hurt my career, especially since I was not allowed to present my case," he added.
He also said that it was a deliberate move to sideline him by associating his name with Umar Akmal.
"Some of my teammates tried to associate my name with Umar Akmal by planning to give negative impression regarding me," said Shehzad.