Pakistan Squad T20 World Cup 2021: Babar Azam to Lead; Asif Ali, Khushdil Shah Return
Lahore: With a little over a month to go for the start of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021, Pakistan cricket selectors have named an experienced, well-balanced and formidable 15-player squad. The same squad would also feature in the upcoming Twenty20 Internationals against New Zealand and England.
The seven home T20Is in Lahore and Rawalpindi will be played from 25 September to 14 October, while Pakistan will proceed to take on India in a battle of former champions in their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup opener in Dubai on 24 October.
Domestic performers Asif Ali and Khushdil Shah have been drafted into the side to provide more firepower in the middle-order.
Asif played his 29th and last T20I for Pakistan against Zimbabwe earlier in April and averages 16.38 with a strike-rate of 123.74, while his overall strike-rate in T20 cricket stands at 147. Khushdil Shah’s ninth and last T20I was against South Africa in Lahore earlier this year. The left-hander averages more than 21 and holds a strike-rate of 109.24, while his overall T20 strike-rate stands at 134.
From the 19 players who were part of the Pakistan squad for the T20I series in England and the West Indies, Arshad Iqbal, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Sharjeel Khan and Usman Qadir have been left out, though Fakhar and Usman along with Shahnawaz Dahani have been named as the three traveling reserves.
The 15-player squad includes five batters (Asif Ali, Babar Azam, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hafeez and Sohaib Maqsood), two wicketkeeper-batters (Azam Khan and Mohammad Rizwan), four all-rounders (Imad Wasim, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jnr and Shadab Khan) and four fast bowlers (Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Hasnain and Shaheen Shah Afridi).
15-player squad (in alphabetical order):
Babar Azam (captain, Central Punjab)
Shadab Khan (vice-captain, Northern)
Asif Ali (Northern)
Azam Khan (wicketkeeper, Southern Punjab)
Haris Rauf (Northern)
Hasan Ali (Central Punjab)
Imad Wasim (Northern)
Khushdil Shah (Southern Punjab)
Mohammad Hafeez (Central Punjab)
Mohammad Hasnain (Sindh)
Mohammad Nawaz (Northern)
Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa)
Mohammad Wasim Jnr (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa)
Shaheen Shah Afridi (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa)
Sohaib Maqsood (Southern Punjab)
Traveling reserves – Fakhar Zaman (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Shahnawaz Dahani (Sindh) and Usman Qadir (Central Punjab)
Chief Selector Muhammad Wasim: “While selecting the squad, we have tried to cover all our bases by catering for the modern day brand of T20 cricket that will be required to perform impressively in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. This includes trusting the abilities, skills and experience of the players to perform in a high-pressure global tournament in conditions that are familiar to us, as well as looking at the teams we will play in Group-2 matches.
(Inputs From PCB)