Pakistan Name Squad For Asia Cup 2023 And Afghanistan Series

Pakistan will face India on September 2 in Asia Cup 2023. The Men in Green will meet Men in Blue agan in the second round of the tournament. Babar Azam will be leading Pakistan in Asia Cup.

Pakistan Cricket Team For Asia Cup. (Source: Twitter)

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced the 15-man squad for the Asia Cup 2023. On expected lines, Babar Azam will lead the side in the six-nation tournament. Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Rizwan, Imam-ul-Haq, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf have also been included in the squad. Pakistan reached the final of Asia Cup 2022, which was a T20 edition, and will be aiming for an improved show in 2023, which will be played in fifty-over format.

Abdullah Shaqfique, Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq are the openers in the side. Mohammad Haris has been included as the back up wicketkeeper and batter for Mohammad Rizwan. As far as spin-bowling department is concerned, Shadab Khan will lead the attack along with Mohammad Nawaz and Usama Mir. Faheem Ashraf has returned to the ODI squad after a gap of two years, as the pace-bowling all-rounder. He last played an ODI for Pakistan in July 2021.

Tayyab Tahir and Saud Shakeel have also been included in the squad for the Afghanistan ODIs. Shakeel however will not take part in the Asia Cup. Only 17-member squad, with out Shakeel, will go to Asia Cup.  Saud, who does not feature in the Asia Cup squad, has played five ODIs and his last was in March 2022 when Pakistan chased down 348 against Australia with six wickets in hand in Lahore. 

The two big omissions from the squad are Shan Masood and Ihsanullah, who were part of the squad that played against New Zealand in April and May. The PCB medla release cited string of low scores as reason behind Shan's omission. 

Pakistan team will arrive in Hambantota in Sri Lanka on August 18. Some of the players will attend a camp at National Cricket Academy in Karachi before their departure on August 17. The camps will be held on August 14, 15 and 16 respectively.

Pakistan Squad For Asia Cup 2023 and Afghanistan ODIs: Babar Azam (c), Fakhar, M Rizwan, Shadab Khan, Abdullah Shafique, Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imam Ul Haq, M Haris, M Wasim Jr, Saud Shakeel (Only for AFG ODIS), Naseem Shah, Agha Salman, Shaheen Afridi, Tayyab Tahir, Usama Mir