Our World Cup squad

Wise of selectors to keep faith in Babar Azam as skipper and Shadab Khan as his deputy

As expected, there have been no surprises in Pakistan’s 15-man squad that will take part in the ICC World Cup 2023 scheduled in India from October 5 to November 10. There are two notable changes though. One is the inclusion of pacer Hasan Ali in place of the injured Naseem Shah. That Shah will be sorely missed during the World Cup matches goes without saying, as the young fast bowler had been bowling with pace and swing — and was at times unplayable — during the recently-concluded Asia Cup. Shah had been part of Pakistan’s fearsome pace trio, also featuring Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf. The inclusion of Hasan Ali — who is a debutante of 2016 with 60 ODIs under his belt and who has not played an ODI since June 2022 — shows a lack of trust on the part of selectors in quite a few young pacers who grabbed spotlight by dint of their performance in the PSL. The other notable change from the Asia Cup squad is the exclusion of Faheem Ashraf. A good all-rounder though, Ashraf could not retain his place in the team for failing to perform during Asia Cup.

Good news though is that pacer Haris Rauf got fit in time to make to the World Cup squad. It’s also wise of the selectors to keep faith in Babar Azam as skipper and Shadab Khan as his deputy, as any changes so close to the world’s biggest cricket event would not have done well to the overall morale and spirit of the team. Babar’s captaincy and leg spinner Shadab’s wicket-taking ability had come under question during Asia Cup. Flamboyant frontline batsman Fakhar Zaman, who has been out of form for some time, also managed to win the selectors’ nod. The young guns in the squad include batsmen Abdullah Shafique, Agha Salman and Saud Shakeel as well as leg-spinner spinner Usama Mir. All in all, the squad looks good and can give any opponent a run for their money. Good luck Team Pakistan!

 

Published in The Express Tribune, September 23^rd, 2023.

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