LAHORE: The newly appointed chief selector Inzamamul Haq Wednesday announced the 18-member squad for the three match ODI series against Afghanistan and Asia Cup.
Tayyab Tahir, Faheem Ashraf and Saud Shakeel have been included in the squad for the Afghanistan series while Shan Masood and Ihsanullah are the two players that played New Zealand in the five ODIs in April and May, to miss out.
Inzamam took the feedback from Director Cricket of Pakistan team Mickey Arthur and Head Coach Grant Bradburn who are also members of the selection committee. He also consulted skipper Babar Azam before finalizing the squad.
An 18-player squad will take on Afghanistan in Sri Lanka from August 22 to 26 and it will be trimmed to 17 players for the Asia Cup, which begins from the Multan Cricket Stadium on August 30 when Pakistan will play against Nepal. The players participating in Lankan Premier League and The Hundred will join the squad directly in Sri Lanka on 18th August. The players in Pakistan will hold a three-day camp on August 14, 15 and 16 at the National Cricket Academy, Lahore.
Tayyab Tahir, Faheem Ashraf and Saud Shakeel have been included in the squad for the Afghanistan series. Shan Masood and Ihsanullah are the two players from the squad that played New Zealand in the five ODIs in April and May to miss out.
Faheem Ashraf returns to the side after two years. His last outing in the format was during Pakistan’s three-match away series against England in July 2021. This is Tayyab’s second call-up in the ODI side. His maiden call-up came ahead of the three ODIs against New Zealand in January following a stellar show in the Pakistan Cup 2022-23 that saw him finish as the leading run-getter in the event. The right-handed middle-order batter recently struck a scintillating century to orchestrate Pakistan Shaheens’ thumping 128-run win over India A in the ACC Men’s Emerging Cup final.
Saud Shakeel, who does not feature in the Asia Cup squad, has played five ODIs and his last was in March 2022 when Pakistan chased down 348 against Australia with six wickets in hand in Lahore.
Shan Masood has missed out on selection following a string of low-scores, while pacer Ihsanullah is undergoing a rehabilitation programme under the observation of the PCB’s medical panel following an injury in his bowling elbow.
Squad: Openers; Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq; Middle order; Babar Azam (captain), Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Tayyab Tahir and Saud Shakeel (only for Afghanistan series); Wicketkeepers- Mohammad Rizwan and Mohammad Haris; Spinners-Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Mohammad Nawaz and Usama Mir, Pace all-rounder: Faheem Ashraf; Pacers- Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jr., Naseem Shah and Shaheen Afridi.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023