ICC World Cup 2019: Pakistan Announce Probable Squad For The Tournament

Published - 05 Apr 2019, 10:08 AM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:00 AM

Credits: Getty

Pakistan, on Thursday, announced their probable 23-man squad for the upcoming ICC World Cup set to held in England. The Inzamam ul Haq-led selection panel sprung quite a few big surprises by excluding some notable names in the squad. The biggest casualty is Umar Akmal who recently made his return to the ODI team for the series against Australia. The right-hander returned to the ODI team after 2 years but failed to deliver.He managed just 150 runs in 5 games as Pakistan lost the series 5-0.

However, Akmal has been in good form in domestic circuit. On the day Pakistan announced the squad, Akmal had slammed a blistering 66-ball 99 for Balochistan in the ongoing Pakistan Cup. Just two days ago, he had scored a match-winning 136 not out. Veteran pacer Wahab Riaz also missed out despite taking 5 for 52 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s 3-wicket win over Federal Areas on Wednesday.

All the selected 23 players in the squad have been called up for a fitness test on April 15 and 16 at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Lahore. Pakistan will finally announce their World Cup squad on April 18.

Pakistan have called up as many as four openers in the squad including Abid Ali who scored a century against Australia on his debut. Exciting fast-bowler Mohammad Hasnain also made it to the squad after turning heads with his sheer pace. Veteran batsman Mohammad Hafeez has also received a call despite undergoing two surgeries on his thumb after suffering the injury in the PSL.

The selectors have also called up senior bowlers Mohammad Amir and Yasir Shah. Amir has struggled to deliver since his heroics in the final of the 2017 Champions Trophy and was also dropped. Since that final, he has managed to take just 5 wickets in 101 overs.Yasir, on the other hand has never looked comfortable in ODIs. He was recalled during the series against Australia but managed to pick up just four wickets at an average of 70.75.

Meanwhile, Pakistan will leave for England on April 23 where they will play a five-match ODI series and a one-off T20I against the hosts before playing the World Cup. They will also play three 50-over games against the county teams and two warm-up games against Afghanistan and Bangladesh before their World Cup opener against the Windies on May 31.

23-man shortlist:

Sarfaraz Ahmed, Abid Ali, Asif Ali, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Sohail, Hassan Ali, Imad Wasim, Imam-ul-Haq, Junaid Khan, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood, Shoaib Malik, Usman Shinwari, Yasir Shah