Avoiding a reshuffle in the squad, surprise decision to replace injured Naseem Shah with Hasan Ali. Photo: AFP
Lahore: A plan has been prepared to dominate the Mission World Cup with tried and tested weapons.
A change in the plan was expected after a detailed review of the national team’s performance in the Asia Cup, but the national selection committee headed by Inzamam-ul-Haq retained faith in the current players by working with “consistency”.
Injured Naseem Shah was left out of the 17-man squad for the Asia Cup, a surprise decision was made to include Hasan Ali in the World Cup squad as a substitute, Faheem Ashraf was dropped, out-of-form Shadab Khan remained as vice-captain.
There was no need to sit out Fakhr Zaman, who has failed continuously, wicketkeeper batsman Mohammad Haris, who joined the Asia Cup squad and played only one match, will be kept as a traveling reserve with the 15-member selected squad, fast bowlers Zaman Khan and mystery spinner Abrar. Ahmed is the other 2 cricketers included in the reserve.
Also read: Pakistan squad announced for World Cup 2023, Hasan Ali’s return
The squad includes Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), openers Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhrzaman, Abdullah Shafiq, wicket-keeper batsman Muhammad Rizwan, middle order Saud Shakeel, spin all-rounders Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Muhammad Nawaz, Osama Mir, Pacers Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali and Wasim Jr. are included in the traveling reserve, wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Haris, pacer Zaman Khan and spinner Abrar Ahmed.
While announcing the squad in the media conference, Chief Selector Inzamam-ul-Haq said that the World Cup is the most important event in the life of any cricketer. I congratulate the cricketers who have been part of the squad for the mega event based on their impressive performance, the same team has performed very well in the last few years, that’s why we have kept faith in the players.
He said that the team faced problems due to the injuries of some players including Naseem Shah during the Asia Cup, the unavailability of Naseem Shah is a big loss, experience is needed in the mega event, playing in India is green compared to other teams. There is a lot of pressure on the shirts, that’s why we included Hasan Ali, the good thing is that now all the players are fully fit and determined to perform at their best in the World Cup.
Also read: The Generator by Beck; Hasan Ali’s tweet went viral
Inzamam-ul-Haq said that we have received encouraging reports from our medical panel about Haris Rauf’s fitness, he has also started practice and is available for selection.
He expressed the belief that the Green Shirts will be able to bring the World Cup trophy to Pakistan and become proud of the entire nation with their excellent performance. According to him, the team needs full encouragement from the fans.
It should be remembered that the World Cup will start on October 5, before that the Pakistan team will play warm-up matches against New Zealand on September 29 and Australia on October 3.
Pakistan is currently number one in the world ranking. In the World Cup 2019, the Green Shirts could not reach the semi-finals due to a lower run rate than New Zealand. Pakistan won the World Cup in 1992 and played the final in 1999. have done
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