Asif Ali, Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz staged a comeback, as Pakistan's final 15-member squad for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 was announced on Monday by chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq. The ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2019 will be played in England and Wales from 30th May to 14th July.
Junaid Khan and Faheem Ashraf were dropped from the squad while Shadab Khan who was unable to play in the series against England due to illness was retained in the World Cup squad. Mohammad Amir had been initially dropped from the World Cup squad. "The bowling unit during the England ODIs has not clicked as anticipated or expected; if we have at our disposal two vastly experienced pace duo of Amir and Wahab, it will be foolish not to include them," Inzamam said.
Pakistan had the flexibility to finalise their line-up until 22nd May, but decided to lock their make-up on Monday following the conclusion of the One-Day International series against England in Leeds.
From the 15-player provisional squad, which was announced on 18th April, the selectors have replaced Abid Ali and Junaid Khan with Asif Ali and Mohammad Amir, respectively (both were named as additional players), while Wahab Riaz has been recalled to replace Faheem Ashraf. Yasir Shah is the fourth player to be released from the side after he was named as Shadab Khan's replacement for the series against England.
Amir, who is presently in London and has fully recovered from chicken pox, and Wahab is expected to join the squad in Bristol on 22 May. Both the players will be available for selection for the 24 and 26 May warm-up matches before Pakistan launches their World Cup campaign against the West Indies on 31 May at Trent Bridge.
Chair of Pakistan men's selection committee, Inzamam-ul-Haq, said the team combination has been revised after taking into account the fast bowlers' performance against England as well as considering the nature of wickets that are likely to be presented in the World Cup.
"Junaid and Faheem had been originally preferred over a few other bowlers based on their recent performances and the investment we had made on them since 2017. They had the opportunity to cement their Word Cup spots, but they were well below-par in the series against England even though they were up against the difficult challenge of bowling on placid and batsmen-friendly wickets.
"After it became obvious that the bat is likely to dominate the ball in the World Cup, we revisited our strategy and reverted to the pace of Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz. Furthermore, Amir and Wahab give the fast bowling attack more experience to back and support the relatively inexperienced but immensely talent Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammad Hasnain," he said.
Regarding Wahab, Inzamam said: "The lack of potency of our frontline bowlers in the recent ODI series against England meant that a change was needed. In addition, we now know that we will encounter batting wickets throughout the World Cup campaign. The combination of both these elements, meant that we believed that right now, utilising the World Cup experience and knowledge of Wahab was the correct choice."
"The bowling unit during the England ODIs has not clicked as anticipated or expected; if we have at our disposal two vastly experienced pace duo of Amir and Wahab, then it will be foolish not to include them," says Inzamam. On Abid Ali, Inzamam said: "It has not been an easy decision to leave out Abid, particularly after he got only one opportunity on the tour. But, he was our third choice opener. After both the first choice openers struck early form, we preferred Asif Ali as he brings firepower to the team that can strengthen our chances in the tournament.
"Both our openers are in form and average over 50 each. If required, we have a fully fit Mohammad Hafeez who can be promoted in the batting order, while Haris Sohail can be another option," he added.
Pakistan squad: Sarfraz Ahmed (wicketkeeper, captain); Asif Ali; Babar Azam; Fakhar Zaman; Haris Sohail; Hasan Ali; Imad Wasim; Imam-ul-Haq; Mohammad Amir; Mohammad Hafeez; Mohammad Hasnain; Shadab Khan; Shaheen Shah Afridi; Shoaib Malik and Wahab Riaz.
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