Mohammad Hasnain In Pakistan's World Cup Squad, Mohammad Amir Misses Out

Pakistan, on Thursday, announced their 15-man World Cup squad set to be played in England and Wales. The biggest absentee from the list is Mohammad Amir. The call, however, was not a very unexpected one. Since the ICC Champions Trophy 2017, Amir has struggled to find his rhythm. The pacer went wicketless in nine of the 14 ODIs he has played since then. What further hurt Amir’s chances is his fitness. The pacer, however, is one of two additional players — other being Asif Ali — who have been named in the 17-man squad for the upcoming ODI and T20I series against England in England.

Read: Australia ‘s World Cup squad:

With Amir out, young pacer Mohammad Hasnain has made it to the squad. Hasnain impressed with his pace in this year’s Pakistan Super League and subsequently made his debut during the ODI series against Australia. Newcomer Abid Ali is also named in the team. Ali scored a century on his debut during the Australia series. Umar Akmal, the middle-order batsman who had made a comeback to the ODI team during the series against Australia after 2017, could not make it to the Pakistan’s World Cup squad.

Pakistan name squad for ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2019.#WeHaveWeWill
Read more ? https://t.co/rTs93eL2eT pic.twitter.com/Ka8fToZMhv

— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) April 18, 2019

Sarfraz Ahmed has returned to the team and will lead the side. The wicketkeeper-batsman has not played an ODI since being suspended for a racial slur during the tour of South Africa. Veteran allrounder Mohammad Hafeez is also in the squad but his availability is subject to fitness. The allrounder had broken his thumb during the Pakistan Super League and later underwent two surgeries.

Meanwhile, Pakistan could still make changes to their squad.  The deadline to announce squads is April 23, but teams can make changes till May 23 without seeking permission from the ICC’s event technical committee.

Pakistan squad:

Sarfraz Ahmed, (c) Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Abid Ali,  Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik,  Haris Sohail, Mohammad Hafeez (subject to fitness), Shadab Khan ,Imad Wasim,  Hasan Ali,  Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Junaid Khan, Mohammad Hasnain