T20 World Cup 2024: Pakistan World Cup squad announced, Mohammad Amir, Imad Wasim included

Pakistan, on Friday (May 22), announced their 15-member squad for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2024, scheduled to be played from June 1 to 29 in the USA and the West Indies.

Pakistan are the last team to announce their squad for the marquee event. As expected, Babar Azam will be leading the Men in Green in the T20 World Cup. The right-handed batsman will be leading the side in a T20 World Cup for the third time. He was the captain in the 2021 and 2022 editions as well.

Pakistan squad for ICC T20 World Cup 2024:

The highlight of the Pakistan squad is the inclusion of fast bowler Haris Rauf. There were doubts over his inclusion in the team owing to lack of match practice as he has not played a single competitive game since February owing to a shoulder injury.

However, the Pakistan selectors and the team management have shown faith in the pacer. Mohammad Amir and Imad Wasim, who recently came out of retirement, have also been named in the squad. Imad last played in the T20 World Cup in 2016 while Amir's last appearance came in the 2021 edition.

There are also a number of players in the squad who will be playing in the T20 World Cup for the first time. The players are -  Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Saim Ayub and Usman Khan. Eight of the 15 players in the squad played in the last edition of the T20 World Cup as well.

"This is an extremely talented and balanced side that has a mixture of youth and experience. These players have been playing together for some time and look well prepared and settled for next month’s event," as quoted by PCB.

"Haris Rauf is fully fit and bowling well in the nets. It would have been nice if he had gotten an outing at Headingley, but we remain confident that he will continue to maintain an upward trajectory in the upcoming matches, as he will have an important role to play along with other strike bowlers in the T20 World Cup."

Pakistan are in Group A alongside arch-rivals India, co-hosts USA, Ireland, and Canada. Babar Azam & Co. will open their campaign in the T20 World Cup against the USA on June 6 in Dallas. It will be followed by the huge clash against India on June 9 in New York before they take on Canada on June 11. Pakistan's final group game is against Ireland on June 16.

The top two teams from each group will qualify for the Super 8s. Pakistan will be fancying their chances of progressing ahead and will be looking to go all the way this time after doing well in the last two editions. In 2021, they bowed out at the semifinal stage before losing the final against England in 2022.

Pakistan squad for ICC T20 World Cup 2024:

Babar Azam (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan

Pakistan's fixtures for ICC T20 World Cup 2024:

• June 6, Thursday: Pakistan vs USA, 9:30 PM IST, Grand Prairie Stadium, Dallas
• June 9, Sunday: India vs Pakistan, 8:30 PM IST, Citi Field, New York
• June 11, Tuesday: Pakistan vs Canada, 8:30 PM IST, Citi Field, New York
• June 16, Sunday: Pakistan vs Ireland, 8:30 PM IST, Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground, Lauderhill