Pakistan Squads For West Indies Series, Asia Cup And U19 World Cup Announced

White-ball series against the West Indies to be played in Karachi from 13-22 December, U19 Asia to be held in the UAE from 20 December to 2 January, West Indies to host U19 World Cup from 14 January to 5 February

Lahore (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 02nd December, 2021) Pakistan cricket selectors today announced national squads for the upcoming home series against the West Indies as well as the U19 Asia Cup and the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup West Indies 2022.

The three T20I and three ODI series against the West Indies will be held in Karachi from 13-22 December with the 20-over matches to count towards the ICC T20I Rankings and the 50-over games will be part of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League. The U19 Asia Cup will be staged in the United Arab Emirates from 20 December to 2 January and will be followed by the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup West Indies 2022 from 14 January to 5 February.

Babar Azam has been retained as Pakistan captain for the white-ball matches against the West Indies with Shadab Khan as his vice-captain, while Qasim Akram will captain Pakistan U19 in the Asia Cup and the World Cup.

From the 18 men’s players who were part of the recently-concluded T20I series against Bangladesh, Hasan Ali, Imad Wasim, Sarfaraz Ahmed and Shoaib Malik have been left out, while fast bowler Mohammad Hasnain has been added to the 15-man squad.

Likewise, from the 17 players who were available for selection for the England ODIs in July, Asif Ali, Haider Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah and Mohammad Wasim Jnr have replaced Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Salman Ali Agha and Sarfaraz Ahmed in the 17-member side, while Abdullah Shafique has been named as a traveling reserve.

Chief selector Muhammad Wasim: “As we have been playing T20Is since October and now have a pretty settled and balanced side, we have decided to reduce the number of players to 15. As such, we have not included Imad Wasim, Sarfaraz Ahmed and Shoaib Malik.

“For the ODIs, which we last played in July, we have accepted the team management’s request and provided them two additional resources.

“In consultation with Hasan Ali and taking into consideration that he has been playing non-stop cricket since returning from a back injury, we have decided to give him time off from this series.”

In the Pakistan U19 squad, Qasim Akram, openers Abdul Wahid Bangalzai and Mohammad Shehzad, and middle-order batter Irfan Khan Niazi will play in their second successive ICC U19 Cricket World Cup. In the South Africa event two years ago, Pakistan had finished third.

Qasim made his debut in the 2020-21 season and was impressive for Central Punjab across all formats, while Abdul Wahid scored a double-century for Balochistan in the ongoing Quaid-e-Azam Trophy to back up his good performances in the National T20. Irfan appeared for Central Punjab in the National T20 and has already earned the reputation of being a clean striker of the ball, whereas Shehzad was also one of the most prolific batters in the 2021-22 U19 one-day and three-day events.

Besides the quartet, the squad includes promising players like spinners Faisal Akram (left-arm-wrist-spinner), Ali Asfand (left-arm-spinner), Mehran Mumtaz (left-arm-spinner) and Arham Nawab (off-spinner). Faisal represented Southern Punjab in the National T20.

Abdul Faseeh, Haseebullah, Rizwan Mehmood and Maaz Sadaqat were the standout performers with the bat in the domestic U19 circuit. Pacers Ahmed Khan, Awais Ali and Zeeshan Zameer have also performed admirably besides impressing the selectors and coaches with their potential.

Chairman Junior Selection Committee Saleem Jaffer: “Selection of U19 squads is always one of the most challenging and difficult tasks due to the available pool of talent.

And this selection was no different, but we have tried to pick the best available 17 players who can help Pakistan win the World Cup for the country.

“The PCB has prepared a robust plan for pathways cricket and I can assure all teenage cricketers who have missed out on selection this time that they will get a chance at some stage down the line.

“I want to congratulate the 17 players who have made into the squad for the UAE and the West Indies tournaments. I remain confident that this side has the capability and potential to do well in both the upcoming events.”

Pakistan men’s squads

T20Is

Babar Azam (captain, Central Punjab)

Shadab Khan (vice-captain, Northern)

Asif Ali (Northern)

Fakhar Zaman (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa)

Haider Ali (Northern)

Haris Rauf (Northern)

Iftikhar Ahmed (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa)

Khushdil Shah (Southern Punjab)

Mohammad Hasnain (Sindh)

Mohammad Nawaz (Northern)

Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa)

Mohammad Wasim Jnr (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa)

Shaheen Shah Afridi (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa)

Shahnawaz Dahani (Sindh)

Usman Qadir (Central Punjab)

ODIs

Babar Azam (captain, Central Punjab)

Shadab Khan (vice-captain, Northern)

Asif Ali (Northern)

Fakhar Zaman (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa)

Haider Ali (Northern)

Haris Rauf (Northern)

Iftikhar Ahmed (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa)

Imam-ul-Haq (Balochistan)

Khushdil Shah (Southern Punjab)

Mohammad Nawaz (Northern)

Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa)

Mohammad Wasim Jnr (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa)

Mohammad Hasnain (Sindh)

Saud Shakeel (Sindh)

Shaheen Shah Afridi (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa)

Shahnawaz Dahani (Sindh)

Usman Qadir (Central Punjab)

Traveling reserve: Abdullah Shafique (Central Punjab)

Player Support Personnel: Mansoor Rana (manager), Saqlain Mushtaq (interim head coach), Shahid Aslam (assistant to head coach), Cliffe Deacon (physiotherapist), Drikus Saaiman (strength and conditioning coach), Abdul Majeed (fielding coach), Talha Ejaz (team analyst), Col (retd) Muhammad Imran (Security Manager), Ahsan Iftikhar Nagi (media and digital manager), Dr Najeeb Soomro (team doctor) and Malang Ali (Masseur)

Pakistan U19 squad

Qasim Akram (captain, Central Punjab)

Abdul Faseeh (Northern)

Abdul Wahid Bangalzai (Balochistan)

Ahmed Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa)

Ali Asfand (Central Punjab)

Arham Nawab (Central Punjab)

Awais Ali (Central Punjab)

Faisal Akram (Southern Punjab)

Haseebullah (wicketkeeper, Balochistan)

Irfan Khan Niazi (Central Punjab)

Maaz Sadaqat (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa)

Mehran Mumtaz (Northern)

Mohammad Shehzad (Southern Punjab)

Rizwan Mehmood (Sindh)

Zeeshan Zameer (Sindh)

Traveling reserves: Ghazi Ghori (wicketkeeper, Sindh), Mohammad Zeeshan (Central Punjab).

Player Support Personnel: Ijaz Ahmed (Head coach), Rao Iftikhar Anjum (Bowling coach), Mohtashim Rasheed (Fielding coach), Mohammad Javed (Strength and Conditioning coach), Hafiz Naeem-ul-Rasool (Physiotherapist), Waleed Ahmed (Analyst) and Taimur Azam (Manager).