Pakistan’s 16-player squad for ODIs against West Indies
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Monday named the 16-player team for the three International Cricket Council (ICC) Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League One-Day Internationals (ODI) against the West Indies.
As the series will not be played in a Managed Event Environment, the management has decided to decrease the 21-player squad for the home Australia ODIs to 16 players.
Those who will not take part in the matches are Asif Afridi, Asif Ali, Haider Ali, and Usman Qadir. Saud Shakeel was not taken into account since he has to undergo surgery for sinusitis.
The matches will take place at the Pindi Cricket Stadium on June 8, 10, and 12.
Babar Azam will lead the side, while Shadab Khan, who failed to play the Australia ODIs due to an injury, has returned as vice-captain.
The team will meet in Rawalpindi on June 1 for a boot camp and Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Rizwan, and Shadab Khan, who presently play in the County of England Championship, will become the part of the squad in time for the practice sessions.
In this respect, head coach Muhammad Wasim said: “As the ODIs against the West Indies are part of the ICC 2023 Men’s Cricket World Cup qualification, we decided to give our side the best chance to collect as many points as possible and to increase our chances of progressing directly for the 50-over tournament. We kept the same core of players so that they set up more in the format. I hope this squad will continue the form they gained from the Australia series.
“In addition, and taking into account that there will be no Managed Event Environment and that players may be called at short notice, We’ve scaled the team down to 16 players.
In terms of Australia’s ODIs, we also announced backup players as a cover for players who were dealing with injuries. Players such as Mohammad Nawaz and Shadab Khan are now in full form, allowing us to exclude Asif Afridi and Usman Qadir.
He said Usman, as well as Asif Ali and Haider Ali, remain in the plans of the PCB for the shortest format as they have a series of T20I scheduled for this year, including the 2022 T20 ICC World Cup men.
The squad includes three openers in Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, and Imam-ul-Haq, three middle-order batters in Babar Azam, Iftikhar Ahmed, and Khushdil Shah, two wicketkeeper/batters in Mohammad Haris and Mohammad Rizwan, two spin all-rounders Mohammad Nawaz and Shadab Khan with Zahid Mahmood as a wrist spinner and five fast bowlers in Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Wasim Junior, Shaheen Shah Afridi, and Shahnawaz Dahani.
Pakistani squad for West Indies ODIs series
Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imam-ul-Haq, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wicketkeeper/batter), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper/batter), Mohammad Wasim Junior, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shahnawaz Dahani and Zahid Mahmood.