PCB announces squad for Afghanistan T20I series, Shadab Khan named captain

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced a 15-member squad for the upcoming T20I series against Afghanistan, to be played in Sharjah.

PCB named allrounder Shadab Khan as the captain for the three-match T20l series against Afghanistan.

While the key players of the Pakistan team Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Fakhar Zaman and Haris Rauf have been given a rest.

Squad

Shadab Khan (captain) (Islamabad United), Abdullah Shafique (Lahore Qalandars), Azam Khan (Islamabad United), Faheem Ashraf (Islamabad United), Iftikhar Ahmed (Quetta Gladiators), Ihsanullah (Multan Sultans), Imad Wasim (Karachi Kings), Mohammad Haris (Peshawar Zalmi), Mohammad Nawaz (Quetta Gladiators), Mohammad Wasim Junior (Islamabad United), Naseem Shah (Quetta Gladiators), Saim Ayub (Peshawar Zalmi), Shan Masood (Multan Sultans), Tayyab Tahir (Karachi Kings), Zaman Khan (Lahore Qalandars)

Reserve players

Abrar Ahmed (Islamabad United), Haseebullah (Peshawar Zalmi) and Usama Mir (Multan Sultans)

PCB chief Najam Sethi said that young players who had performed in the Pakistan Super League (PSL 2023) will be given the opportunity in the series and that he had taken the senior players Babar Azam, Muhammad Rizwan, and Shaheen Afrdid into confidence over the strategy.

Schedule

March 24: 1st T20I, Sharjah

March 26: 2nd T20I, Sharjah

March 27: 3rd T20I, Sharjah

Chief Selector Haroon Rasheed while sharing the reasons behind giving rest to the senior players, said that they have followed the standard rotation policy by resting the leading performers and providing high-performing domestic performers with opportunities to demonstrate their talent and potential at the international level.

Haroon Rasheed added that this will also allow the board to test the temperament and abilities of these players and help it to strengthen its pool of players as they look forward to building and preparing a formidable side for next year’s T20 World Cup in the West Indies and United States.

“However, and in doing so, we have ensured that we select a side that is equally strong and capable of winning the series against a strong Afghanistan side for whom Sharjah is like a second home. And to achieve that, we have retained seven players from the last series, recalled four experienced cricketers and clubbed them with four uncapped players to make the 15-member side a true mixture of youth and experience,” he added.

In a press statement issued separately, Najam Sethi congratulated Shadab Khan on his appointment as the Pakistan team captain for the series against Afghanistan.

“Shadab Khan has been the Pakistan vice-captain in white-ball cricket for the past couple of years and it is logical that he takes over the side in the absence of Babar Azam for the short three-match T20I tour of Sharjah.”