Pakistan announced a 15-member squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka on Sunday (January 25).
Salman Ali Agha will lead Pakistan into the T20 World Cup, where all of their games scheduled to be played in Sri Lanka. Babar Azam and Shaheen Shah Afridi, both of whom returned to the T20I squad for the Australia series, have been picked for the World Cup as well.
Babar and Shaheen, notably, had middling debut campaigns in the BBL, where they struggled to make any telling impact. Babar scored 202 runs in 11 innings, but at a strike rate of 103, while Shaheen could pick up just two wickets in four games, and conceded runs at 11.19 an over.
Haris Rauf, who last played T20I cricket for Pakistan at the Asia Cup and had a great BBL season, wasn’t selected for the World Cup. Mohammad Wasim Jr is the only player named in the Pakistan squad for the three Australia T20Is in Lahore who won’t be on the flight to Sri Lanka.
The squad announcement should clear the air surrounding their potential withdrawal from the World Cup. PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi had cast doubt over their participation in the event on Saturday (January 24) when he claimed the Pakistan government would take the final call following Bangladesh’s ouster from the tournament.
The 2009 T20 World Cup champions begin their campaign against the Netherlands on February 7 in Colombo. They will then face the USA, India and Namibia on February 10, 15 and 18, respectively.
Pakistan squad for T20 World Cup
Batters: Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub.
Wicketkeepers: Usman Khan, Khawaja Nafay.
All-rounders: Salman Ali Agha (c), Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan.
Bowlers: Abrar Ahmed, Naseem Shah, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Tariq.
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