Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to rest Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Fakhar Zaman, and Haris Rauf for the upcoming three-T20I series against Afghanistan and has named Shadab Khan as the Pakistan captain.
The new PCB selection committee for the national senior men's team, headed by Haroon Rasheed cited the new policy on managing workloads and player rotation as the reason for resting the bigwigs of the team as the Afghanistan series is not part of the ICC FTP.
The squad sees the return of Imad Wasim, while PSL 2023 stars Saim Ayub, Zaman Khan, and Ihsanullah earn their maiden Pakistan call-up.
PCB Management Committee chairman, Najam Sethi, contacted Babar, Mohammad Rizwan, and Shaheen Afridi, and Fakhar Zaman on Sunday and informed them that they will be given rest. Haris Rauf has also been rested to manage his workload.
PCB chief Najam Sethi said: “I want to congratulate 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.
For the short Sharjah tour and to ensure continuity, we have also appointed Mohammad Yousuf as the interim head and batting coach. Yousuf has been with the national side since last year as a batting coach and has also been working in the National High Performance Centre.”
The three T20Is will be played on March 24, 26 and 27 in Sharjah.
Pakistan Squad:
Shadab Khan (C), Abdullah Shafique, Azam Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Ihsanullah, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shan Masood, Tayyab Tahir, Zaman Khan.
Reserves: Haseebullah, Usama Mir, Abrar Ahmed
(Cricket Pakistan/ESPNCricinfo inputs)
