In an apparent reversal of board chairman Mohsin Naqvi’s earlier intention to boycott the T20 World Cup in support of Bangladesh, Pakistan announced a 15-man squad on Sunday.
Following Bangladesh’s rejection to travel to India because to “security concerns,” the ICC replaced them with Scotland. Naqvi, the head of the Pakistan Cricket Board, had earlier urged a withdrawal from the T20 marquee event.
Pakistan will be captained by Salman Ali Agha in the competition, which will take place in India and Sri Lanka from February 7 to March 8.
Naqvi had stated that the Pakistani government will decide whether or not its national squad would compete in the T20 World Cup once Bangladesh was eliminated. Sri Lanka will host all of Pakistan’s group games.
The team was announced at a news conference held at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore by white-ball head coach Michael James Hesson, Agha, and Aqib Javed, the PCB’s High Performance Director and member of the men’s national team selection committee.
Last year, the PCB, BCCI, and ICC signed a tripartite agreement that calls for all India-Pakistan matches to take place in neutral locations till 2027.
The same players who will play a T20 series at home against Australia next week were included in the T20 World team, so there were no significant surprises. Medium pacer Mohammad Wasim junior was the only player left out of the team for the Australia series, which will begin in Lahore on January 29.
Abrar Ahmed and Usman Tariq, a mystery spinner who has had few international appearances for the national team, are the two specialist spinners that the selectors have included in the T20 World Cup squad. The team includes spin all-rounders Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, and Saim Ayub in addition to Abrar and Usman.
Khawaja Nafay, a youthful, hard-hitting batsman who has just played one T20 International in Sri Lanka earlier this month, is also part of the team. Agha, the captain, Faheem Ashraf, Khawaja Mohammad Nafay, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Sahibzada Farhan, and Usman Tariq are among the 15 players who were called up to the Pakistan squad for the first time for a major event.
Since 2021, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, and Usman Khan have all participated in at least one event.
Pakistan will play their first match in Group A on February 7 in Colombo against the Netherlands.
Pakistan squad for T20 World Cup: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Khawaja Mohammad Nafay (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan (wk), Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan (wk) and Usman Tariq
