Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced ODI and T20I Squad for Australia and Zimbabwe, respectively. Three important players who were not present in the recently played Test series against England will join the national team for the Australian series that is set to start on November 4. These are Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi, and Naseem Shah. The three will miss the subsequent Zimbabwe series.
The PCB hasn’t announced a captain yet in its formal statement but has confirmed Chairman Mohsin Naqvi will do so in the press conference later today. Mohammad Rizwan is believed to be one of the top contenders for the job, but he is rested from T20Is against Zimbabwe, though he is included in both ODI squads. The other contender, Salman Ali Agha, has been included in all four squads.
Interestingly, Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq, who were not part of the central contracts, didn’t find a place in any of the squads. Without a central contract, Mohammad Hasnain took up the challenge by being Player of the Tournament in the Champions One-Day Cup and finding himself in all the white-ball format squads.
Among others, left-arm wrist-spinner Sufiyan Muqeem has been picked for T20Is. Offspinner Qasim Akram has been provided a place in the team for the Zimbabwe series. Youngster Haseebullah Khan, who made his debut in his first T20I in New Zealand, has been accommodated in all four squads while Saim Ayub was only accommodated in ODIs on account of T20’s power-hitting.
This will be a busy period for Pakistan, as they lead into the Champions Trophy scheduled to take place in February. After playing ODIs against Australia and Zimbabwe, they will host South Africa in both formats and then go on to play in a tri-series with New Zealand and South Africa before that big-ticket Champions Trophy event.
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