On Monday, Pakistan Cricket Board confirmed their 15-member squad for the T20 World Cup to be held in Oman and UAE from October 17. The selectors have made two notable inclusions in the form of Asif Ali, Khushdil Shah and one eye-catching omission of Fakhar Zaman.
Fakhar, though part of reserves for the competition, is not included in the main playing contingent after slipping below in the pecking order in recent times.
“Sohaib Maqsood’s ability to bat and perform anywhere in the top-order has given him an edge over Fakhar,”
said chief selector Muhammad Wasim.
For an aggressive top-order batsman, Fakhar has struggled for flow and consistency in T20Is this year for Pakistan. Fakhar is one of the six players, also including former skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed, who are not retained from the recent T20Is versus England, West Indies for the tournament.
The reinclusion of Asif and Shah has come on the back of solid domestic performances, with the selectors hoping that they can add “firepower” to the middle-order.
Asif has featured in 29 previous T20Is with an average of 16.38 and strike-rate of 123.74. Shah has played nine games in the shortest form at the highest level and is averaging 21.66 and strike-rate of 109.24.
“[The two players] may not have impressive numbers against their names but hardly anyone can doubt their tremendous talent and prowess.
They are the best in the available pool of middle-order batsmen and we remain confident of their performances“
stated Wasim in the PCB release.
The squad selected for the T20 World Cup is the same that will take on New Zealand and England in seven home T20Is heading into the ICC event.
Pakistan begin their World Cup campaign on October 24 in Dubai with a Super 12 fixture against arch-rivals India.
