Former captain Sarfaraz Ahmed failed to retain his position in the national squad for upcoming international series.
\n Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Wednesday announced a 20-member squad for three upcoming ODIs against New Zealand to be played in Rawalpindi later this month.
\nAccording to sources, batsmen Haris Sohail, Salman Ali Agha and Sohaib Maqsood also failed to join the squad.
\nMeanwhile, the PCB included uncapped wicketkeeper Mohammad Haris, fast bowlers Mohammad Wasim and Shahnawaz Dahani, wrist-spinner Zahid Mahmood, and middle-order batsmen Iftikhar Ahmed and Khushdil Shah in the 20-member squad.
\nThe PCB mentioned that Iftikhar’s last international appearance had been against Zimbabwe in late 2020 while Khushdil’s sole international appearance in the format had also been in the same match.
\nChief Selector Mohammad Wasim said he knew that a few players would be “disappointed” at not being included.
\nHowever, there was a busy cricket season ahead and there would be “ample opportunities down the line for everyone to put up strong performances and push their case for national selection”.
\nTerming the series against New Zealand “extremely important” for Pakistan, as the Rawalpindi ODIs will count towards the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup qualification; Wasim said the PCB had tried to put together a “formidable and balanced unit”.
\n“We have continued to ensure that we give opportunities to high-performing players while looking into the future so that we can develop a strong bench-strength,”
\nWasim said it was “unfortunate” that Shahnawaz had been missed during the team selection for Pakistan’s tour of England last month since the national squad was announced before the completion of Pakistan Super League (PSL) 6.
\nHe added that, the fast bowler was a “straightforward selection” for the upcoming series, he said. Mohammad Wasim was also given a continued run because of his impressive performance during the series against West Indies.
\nThe chief selector said Zahid was added to the team to support leg-spinner Usman Qadir. He recalled that Zahid had excelled in the last white-ball match he played against South Africa in Lahore.
\nWasim added that, The wrist-spinner had the temperament to perform in ODIs.
\nPakistan will play three ODIs against New Zealand at the Pindi Cricket Stadium on September 17, 19, and 21. Meanwhile, the Gaddafi Stadium will stage the five T20Is scheduled to take place from Sept 25 to Oct 3.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Former captain Sarfaraz Ahmed failed to retain his position in the national squad for upcoming international series. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Wednesday announced a 20-member squad for three upcoming ODIs against New Zealand to be played in Rawalpindi later this month. According to sources, batsmen Haris Sohail, Salman Ali Agha and Sohaib Maqsood also […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":49086,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-212671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n