Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Monday announced the 22-man preliminary squad for the upcoming white-ball series against Zimbabwe.
There have been some surprising inclusions in the squad as some senior players including Shoaib Malik, Sarfaraz Ahmed and Mohammad Amir have been neglected.
Head coach Misbah Ul Haq clarified the selection saying it was based entirely on the merit of performance for the series. He also assured that it doesn’t mark the end of the career of the senior players, especially the ones not included in the squad.
The board has named only Mohammad Hafeez and Wahab Riaz as their inclusion will help the youngsters.
“Useful experience in the batting and bowling respectively, that will benefit the youngsters,” Misbah said.
The probable list will be expected to gather in Lahore by October 21 (Wednesday) for the COVID-19 test. After that, they will undergo an isolation period of at least five days before commencing their practice. Pakistan is slated to play three ODIs against Zimbabwe from October 30, followed by as many T20I matches.
Preliminary Squad: Abdullah Shafiq, Abid Ali, Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Sohail, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imam-ul-Haq, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Rizwan, Rohail Nazir, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Usman Qadir, Zafar Gohar, Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Musa Khan, Shaheen Shah, Wahab Riaz
