LAHORE (Dunya News) - The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Friday unveiled its 15-player squad for next month’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 in the USA and Caribbean from June 1 to 29. The side will be led by Babar Azam.
Pakistan are the last team to announce the world cup squad a day before International Cricket Council's deadline of May 25.
The team was announced in a unique way as people representing various communities were selected to announce the squad. The unique way earned the PCB appreciation.
Following is the Pakistan squad:
Babar Azam (captain)
Abrar Ahmed
Azam Khan
Fakhar Zaman
Haris Rauf
Iftikhar Ahmed
Imad Wasim
Mohammad Abbas Afridi
Mohammad Amir
Mohammad Rizwan
Naseem Shah
Saim Ayub
Shadab Khan
Shaheen Shah Afridi
Usman Khan
The board has not announced reserves for the event.
The side was confirmed on Friday afternoon (UK time) following a two-hour selection committee meeting which was attended by Abdul Razzaq, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Bilal Afzal, Gary Kirsten, Mohammad Yousuf and Wahab Riaz.
Of the 15 players, Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Saim Ayub and Usman Khan have been picked for their maiden T20 World Cup, while Mohammad Amir and Imad Wasim last appeared in the 2016 and 2021 tournaments, respectively. The other eight players participated in the 2022 event in Australia.
“This is an extremely talented and balanced side that has a mixture of youth and experience. These players have been playing together for some time and look well prepared and settled for next month’s event.
“Haris Rauf is fully fit and bowling well in the nets. It would have been nice if he had gotten an outing at Headingley, but we remain confident that he will continue to maintain an upward trajectory in the upcoming matches, as he will have an important role to play along with other strike bowlers in the T20 World Cup,” said the PCB.
Pakistan in T20s
Pakistan have one of the most impressive records in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup since its inception in 2007 in South Africa. It won the 2009 event under Younis Khan and twice reached the finals under Shoaib Malik (2007) and Babar Azam (2022). In 2010, 2012, and 2021, it reached the last-four stage.
A delayed decision
Early on Friday, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi stopped naming of national squad for the upcoming Twenty20 International World Cup.
According to sources, the PCB chief expressed displeasure at the selection committee. The chief, sources said, had "objection" to inclusion of two players in the 15-man squad. They, however, did not point out who the two players are.
But, later they changed their stance and said the chairman did not object to any player but expressed his displeasure over the way the selection committee worked.
The committee did not hold regular meetings to pick the players. Moreover, minutes of the committee meetings were not shared with him, sources said.