LAHORE (APP): The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Friday announced a pace-heavy 15-member squad for next month’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 in the West Indies and USA and Caribbean from 1-29 June.
No reserves have been announced for the Babar Azam-led side.
The 15-member squad is a blend of experience and raw talent with five players including Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Saim Ayub and Usman Khan will play their maiden T20 World Cup while eight members have represented Pakistan in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia.
Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Mohammad Amir, and fast-bowling all-rounder Mohammad Abbas Afridi strengthen the pace-battery while three spinners Abrar Ahmed, Shadab Khan and Imad Wasim complete the bowling attack. Two part-time off-spinners Iftikhar Ahmed and Saim Ayub are also part of the team.
The batting line-up for the ICC mega event comprises dependable Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Saim Ayub, Fakhar Zaman, Usman Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed and explosive Azam Khan.
The squad was announced after a two-hour long deliberations during a meeting of the selection committee comprising Wahab Riaz, Abdul Razzaq, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Bilal Afzal, Gary Kirsten and Mohammad Yousuf.
About the ICC T20 World Cup squad, the PCB said, “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.”
On Haris Rauf, the PCB said that 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.
Squad (in alphabetical order):
1.Babar Azam (captain)
2.Abrar Ahmed
3.Azam Khan
4.Fakhar Zaman
5.Haris Rauf
6.Iftikhar Ahmed
7.Imad Wasim
8.Mohammad Abbas Afridi
9.Mohammad Amir
10.Mohammad Rizwan
11.Naseem Shah
12.Saim Ayub
13.Shadab Khan
14.Shaheen Shah Afridi
15.Usman Khan
Player support personnel: Wahab Riaz (senior team manager), Mansoor Rana (team manager), Gary Kirsten (head coach), Azhar Mahmood (assistant coach), Simon Helmot (fielding coach), David Reid (mental performance coach), Aftab Khan (high performance coach), Cliffe Deacon (physiotherapist), Irtaza Komail (chief security officer), Mohammad Imran (masseur), Mohammad Khurram Sarwar (team doctor), Talha Ijaz (analyst), Raza Kitchlew (media and digital manager) and Drikus Saaiman (strength and conditioning coach).
Pakistan has one of the most impressive records in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup since its inception in 2007 in South Africa. It won the 2009 event under Younis Khan and twice reached the finals under Shoaib Malik (2007) and Babar Azam (2022). In 2010, 2012, and 2021, it reached the last-four stage.
Pakistan’s World Cup fixtures:
6 June – vs USA, Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium, Dallas
9 June – vs India, Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York
11 June – vs Canada, Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York
16 June – vs Ireland, Central Broward Park & Broward County Stadium, Lauderhill, Florida
Pakistan has been seeded A2 in the first round and if they qualify for the second round, then their Super Eight matches will be as follows:
19 June – vs D1, Antigua
21 June – vs C2, Barbados
23 June – vs B1, Barbados.
