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Kabir angered by omission

Worcestershire paceman Kabir Ali has hit out at the England selectors for failing to include him in the provisional squad for the World Twenty20 in September.

Kabir believes he has been made the fall guy by England in the past and insists his record for his country in one-day cricket is as good as anyone in the squad.

This season he has bowled consistently well in one-day and four-day cricket for his county but feels he has again been unfairly overlooked.

Kabir said: "If the squad was picked on merit, I should have been in a long time ago. I tick all the boxes, I can bowl, bat and field and I've shown England that.

"Okay, I had a couple of bad games against Sri Lanka in the one-day series last summer but I was hardly the only one.

"Other people had worse figures than myself but it seems I'm the guy who gets the blame when England lose.

"If I hadn't done well in the past, I could understand it. But every time they give me a chance, I do well. I took five wickets as a 22-year-old in my first Test but they've never picked me again.

"I came back from South Africa as the leading wicket-taker in the one-dayers a couple of years ago and then they dropped me for the next game!"

Yet despite his omission, Kabir insists he will not give up hope.

The 26-year-old added: "If they told me what I needed to do for things to change then I might understand but I've heard nothing. I don't know where to go or what to do.

"Perhaps it is the club I play for. Or perhaps I don't fit in for some reason. But I seem to be the one that gets kicked out when anything goes wrong.

"All I can do is keep performing and hope I can embarrass the selectors."

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