PCB announces squads for Asia Cup, Netherlands tour; Hasan Ali dropped

The Pakistan Cricket Board, PCB, has announced squads for the ICC World Cup Super League ODI matches against the Netherlands and the T20 Asia Cup, on Wednesday.

PCB named a 16-member squad for the three-match series against the Netherlands starting from Aug 16, and a 15-member squad for the Asia Cup which will commence on Aug 27.

However, fast bowler Hasan Ali has been dropped from the squad and replaced with Naseem Shah.

Squad for Netherlands ODIs: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Imam-ul-Haq, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Naseem Shah, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shahnawaz Dahani and Zahid Mehmood.

Squad for T20 Asia Cup: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shahnawaz Dahani and Usman Qadir.

Player Support Personnel: Mansoor Rana (manager), Saqlain Mushtaq (head coach), Shahid Aslam (assistant to head coach), Mohammad Yousuf (batting coach), Shaun Tait (bowling coach), Drikus Simmon (trainer/strength and conditioning coach), Cliffe Deacon (physiotherapist), Abdul Majeed (fielding coach), Ibrahim Badees (media and digital manager), Lt Col (retd) Asif Mahmood (team security manager), Talha Ejaz (team analyst), Malang Ali (team masseur) and Dr. Najeebullah Soomro (team doctor). Col Muhammad Imran will replace Lt Col Asif Mahmood as a team security manager for the T20I Asia Cup.

Chief Selector Muhammad Wasim said that the management had made only necessary changes to the squad.

“Both the competitions are important for us and we have picked our best available players in consultation with the captain and head coach,” he said.

Commenting on Hasan, Wasim said the pacer had been given a break from international cricket and he had been replaced by Shah.

“He [Shah] is express fast and can give further impetus to the fast bowling department, which already has the likes of Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Shaheen Shah Afridi, and Shahnawaz Dahani,” the chief selector added.

He said that Naseem had not played any international white-ball cricket but had demonstrated with the red-ball his skills as an attacking pacer with an ability to swing the ball.

“Salman Ali Agha has been recalled to the ODI side after he performed well in the past two Pakistan Cup tournaments, averaging 40.33 and 48.8, respectively. He also gives Babar Azam an additional bowling option.”