Pakistan announce 29-member Test and T20I squad: The Pakistani cricket team will travel to England by the end of this month.
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Pakistan have announced a 29-member squad for their upcoming your of England which will witness both the teams play three Tests and as many T20Is starting from August. The tour will follow West Indies’ tour of England next month to make sure the English summer registers international fixtures despite the COVID-19 threat.
It is not common that teams announce a joint squad for two formats. However, the ongoing circumstances which haven’t allowed the Pakistani cricketers to train in their nation might have been a reason for them announcing the names of 29 players and segregating them upon reaching and training in England.
Much like the West Indian players, Pakistani cricketers will also reach England well in advance to quarantine for two weeks alongside resuming training inside a bio-secure environment. While they are expected to leave Pakistan in the last week of June, their bio-secure environment will be setup in Birmingham.
The biggest development regarding the squad is that uncapped batsman Haider Ali has been rewarded for his impressive show in this year’s ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup and the Pakistan Super League. In nine T20s for Peshawar Zalmi, Ali had scored 239 runs at a strike rate of 158.27 including a half-century against Lahore Qalandars.
Another notable inclusions are in the form of former captain Sarfaraz Ahmed and 36-year old pacer Sohail Khan. Having last played for Pakistan in 2017, Sohail is coming on the back of a below par PSL season. However, he picked 22 wickets in nine matches at an average of 39.77 in the last season of Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.
Pakistan announce 29-member Test and T20I squad
“The selectors have picked a squad which gives us the best chance of success in England. It was a challenging process as the players have not played for an extended period, but nevertheless, with the month that we will have in England and the intense training we will undergo, we are confident we will get the players up to the mark to be ready for the three Tests.
Faheem Ashraf had unimpressive numbers in PSL. His selection is a clear indication that he is in Pakistan’s Test plans [cos you normally need a fourth seamer in England]. That’s a fair call. But what’s the logic behind Sohail Khan?
— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) June 12, 2020
“The main focus of the selectors has been red-ball cricket, which we will play for nearly two months with the T20Is to be played at the back-end of the ICC World Test Championship fixtures,” Pakistan chief selector and head coach Misbah-ul-Haq said in a statement.
Pakistan squad for England tour 2020
Abid Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Shan Masood, Azhar Ali (Test captain), Babar Azam (Test vice-captain and T20I captain), Asad Shafiq, Fawad Alam, Haider Ali, Iftikhar Ahmad, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik. Mohammad Rizwan, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Imran Khan, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Sohail Khan, Usman Shinwari, Wahab Riaz, Imad Wasim, Kashif Bhatti, Shadab Khan, Yasir Shah.
