Pakistan One-Day Team Named For Asia Cup

Chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq said the 16-memebr Pakistan cricket squad named for Asia Cup is part of efforts to keep an eye on the future of Pakistan cricket team by testing new players and come up with a balanced squad for the next year's World Cup.

LAHORE, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Sep, 2018 ) :Chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq said the 16-memebr Pakistan cricket squad named for Asia Cup is part of efforts to keep an eye on the future of Pakistan cricket team by testing new players and come up with a balanced squad for the next year's World Cup.

"Selectors are fully focused on finalising a pool of 20 to 22 members ahead of the Cup and we will be giving chance to new players besides resting experienced players. There is a lot of cricket to be played before the Cup and by that way, we will be able to judge the individual talent of players," he told a news conference here on Tuesday at Gaddafi Stadium to name the Pak squad for the Asia Cup, which will be played from Sept 15 in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

The squad consists of Fakhar Zaman, Inam-ul-Haq, Shan Masood, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed (captan), Haris Sohail, Asif Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheen Asrhaf, Shadab Khan, Muhammad Amir, Hasan Ali, Junaid Khan, Usman Khan Shinwari and Shaheen Afridi.

However, selectors overlooked former Pakistan captain and all-rounder, Muhammad Hafeez, and Amad Wasim for the squad which includes as many as six fast bowlers and left hander batsman, Shaan domestic who piled up runs in domestic season.

"Omission of Hafeez does not mean end to his career as it is not our job to decide whose career is finished, definitely he (Hafeez) is in our list of players for World Cup and we want to bring in new players as a part of our practice to test them," said the chief selector while answering a question.

He said it was unfortunate that Imad Wasim failed to pass the fitness test and was omitted from the squad. " If a player fails to pass the fitness test we give him more chances to go through the test but we can not compromise on below par fitness level and standard of a player no matter how much potential he has in his specific department of the game.

Inzamam urged the young as well as experienced players including skipper Sarfraz Ahmad to lift the level of their game to be useful part of the team.

"It is not a fair thought on part of a player to assume that he has achieved the top in the game, there is always room to improve and progress ahead and I think that Safraz can do much better with the bat and he has started proving that which is good for the team," maintained Inzamam.

Inzamam has six fast bowlers Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Usman Khan, Mohammad Amir, Shaheen Afridi and Junaid Khan have been added to the squad owing to hot weather conditions at Dhaka and to reduce burden from pace battery.

"The weather will be very tough there and we want to utilize our bowlers according to playing conditions and the weather and we want to ample choice while finalizing our playing XI," he asserted.

The chief selector said Shaan Masood impressed with his performance with the bat, hammering 1300 record breaking runs. "He is a talented batsman and we want to judge him in the one day cricket and that is why he has been given a chance and definitely we will keep judging talented players in our quest for having a balanced squads for World Cup," he added.

To a question, he said India must be feeling the absence of master blaster batsman Virat Kholi and urged the Pak team not take India lightly in any manner .

"Our team should do its best, without taking into consideration that from opposition who is in or who is out, it should perform to a peak level to attain good results," said the chief selector.