Pakistan will open their Asia Cup campaign against Nepal on August 30 in Multan.
The Men in Green will take on Afghanistan in Sri Lanka from 22 till 26 August and the squad will be trimmed to 17 players for the continental tournament, slated to be held in Pakistan and Sri Lanka from August 30 to September 17.
Tayyab Tahir, Faheem Ashraf and Saud Shakeel have been named in the squad for the Afghanistan series. Shan Masood and Ihsanullah are the two players from the squad that played New Zealand in the five ODIs in April and May to miss out. Shan missed out on selection following a string of low scores, while Ihsanullah is recovering from an elbow injury.
Faheem returns to the team after two years and improves the balance of the side as a fast bowling all-rounder. His last outing in the 50-over format was during Pakistan’s three-match away series against England in July 2021.
This is Tayyab’s second call-up in the ODI side. His maiden call-up came ahead of the three ODIs against New Zealand in January following a stellar show in the Pakistan Cup 2022-23 that saw him finish as the leading run-getter in the event. The middle-order batter recently slammed a dazzling century to script Pakistan Shaheens’ thumping 128-run win over India A in the ACC Men’s Emerging Cup final.
Saud, who isn’t part of the Asia Cup squad, has played five ODIs and his last appearance was in March 2022 when Pakistan overhauled the target of 348 against Australia with six wickets to spare in Lahore.
Pakistan team will have a three-day camp on August 14, 15 and 16 at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore before departing for Sri Lanka on August 17.
Pakistan squad for Afghanistan ODIs and Asia Cup 2023:
Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (captain), Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Tayyab Tahir, Saud Shakeel (only for Afghanistan series), Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Haris, Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi