Pakistan name 16-member squad for West Indies ODIs, Shadab Khan returns

Pakistan Cricket Board has announced a 16-man squad for the upcoming three One Day Internationals against West Indies, starting from 8th June 2022. This series will be counted towards ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League and Pakistan, who are positioned ninth with only six wins from 12 matches, will look to improve their position in the table.

PCB Selectors have reduced the total number of players in the squad to 16 from 21 as the series will not be played under the managed event environment like the recently concluded Australia series. Players like Asif Afridi, Asif Ali, Haider Ali and Usman Qadir have been left out while Saud Shakeel has been ruled out due to his injury. He is scheduled to have surgery for sinusitis.

No. 1 ODI batter Babar Azam will continue as the group leader while Shadab Khan has returned after injury for his vice-captaincy services. The whole squad will assemble in Rawalpindi on June 1 as several players like Mohammad Rizwan, Hasan Ali, Haris Rauf and Shadab Khan have to return from their County services.

“As the ODIs against the West Indies are part of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 qualification, we have decided to give best chance to our side to collect maximum points and strengthen our chances of progressing directly for the pinnacle 50-over tournament,” Chief Selector Muhammad Wasim said.

“We have retained the same core of players so they further establish themselves in the format. I hope this bunch will continue the form they gained from the Australia series. Also, and taking into consideration that there will be no Managed Event Environment and the players can be called at a short notice, we have reduced the squad size to 16 players.

“For the Australia ODIs, we had also announced backup players as cover to those players who were carrying injuries. Players such as Mohammad Nawaz and Shadab Khan are now fully fit, which has allowed us to leave out Asif Afridi and Usman Qadir. However, Usman along with Asif Ali and Haider Ali remain in our plans for the shortest format as we have a series of T20I lined up this year, including the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022,” he added.

Pakistan squad for West Indies ODIs

Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan (vc), Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imam-ul-Haq, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper/batter), Mohammad Wasim Junior, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shahnawaz Dahani, Zahid Mahmood