ICC confirms all squads for Champions Trophy

DUBAI: The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday confirmed all squads for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy, which will be staged in the United Kingdom from June 1-18, after India announced their squad.

While a number of players will be returning to this short and sharp tournament, Pakistan’s Shoaib Malik stands out as he has been selected for his sixth successive tournament. Only eight other players have played in six ICC Champions Trophy tournaments. They are: Ricky Ponting (Australia), Rahul Dravid (India), Daniel Vettori (New Zealand), Mark Boucher and Jacques Kallis (both South Africa) and Sanath Jayasuriya, Mahela Jayawardena and Kumar Sangakkara (all Sri Lanka).

Shoaib made his tournament debut in the Colombo event in 2002 and then went on to play in the 2004 and 2013 events in the United Kingdom, the 2006 event in India and the 2009 tournament in South Africa. The 35-year-old has scored 326 runs and taken 10 wickets in 15 ICC Champions Trophy appearances, and since he has played in 247 ODIs, will be aiming to become the 42nd player overall to play in 250 or more ODIs when he takes the field in the third match against Sri Lanka in Cardiff on June 12.

“I am happy to be part of the Pakistan squad in a quality event like the ICC Champions Trophy,” Shoaib said.

“If I look at the company of players who have played in the six events to date, I feel humbled and honoured as these gentlemen are some of the finest our sport has ever seen.

“As the ODI squad, we need to re-establish ourselves as one of the top ODI sides by putting up strong performances against all teams,” he added.

Australia captain Steve Smith has been selected in a squad which has Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc and David Warner from the 2013 tournament.

England have retained five players from the previous tournament — Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Eoin Morgan, Joe Root and Chris Woakes.

India have retained eight players from the successful team of 2013, namely Virat Kohli, who will captain India for the first time in a major ICC event.

Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed is one of the nine Pakistan players who will be making their ICC Champions Trophy debuts. Mohammad Hafeez will play in his third tournament. The other survivors from the 2013 event are Junaid Khan, Umar Akmal and Wahab Riaz, while Mohammad Amir played in the 2009 edition.

Squads:

Pakistan: Sarfraz Ahmad (captain), Ahmad Shahzad, Azhar Ali, Babar Azam, Fahim Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Hassan Ali, Imad Wasim, Junaid Khan, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Hafeez, Shadab Khan, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal and Wahab Riaz.

Australia: Steve Smith (captain), David Warner, Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, John Hastings, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Moises Henriques, Chris Lynn, Glenn Maxwell, James Pattinson, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade and Adam Zampa.

Bangladesh: Masrafe Mortaza (captain), Imrul Kayes, Mahmudullah, Mehedi Hasan Miraj, Mosaddek Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mustafizur Rahman, Rubel Hossain, Sanjamul Islam, Sabbir Rahman, Shafiul Islam, Shakib Al Hasan, Soumya Sarker, Tamim Iqbal and Taskin Ahmed.

England: Eoin Morgan (captain), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, David Willey, Chris Woakes and Mark Wood.

India: Virat Kohli (captain), Ravichandran Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Shikhar Dhawan, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Kedar Jadhav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Hardik Pandya, Manish Pandey, Ajinkya Rahane, Mohammad Shami, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh and Umesh Yadav.

New Zealand: Kane Williamson (captain), Corey Anderson, Trent Boult, Neil Broom, Colin de Grandhomme, Martin Guptill, Tom Latham, Mitchell McClenaghan, Adam Milne, Jimmy Neesham, Jeetan Patel, Luke Ronchi, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee and Ross Taylor.

South Africa: AB de Villiers (captain), Hashim Amla, Farhaan Behardien, JP Duminy, Quinton de Kock, Faf du Plessis, Keshav Maharaj, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Chris Morris, Wayne Parnell, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada and Imran Tahir.

Sri Lanka: Angelo Mathews (captain), Dinesh Chandimal, Niroshan Dickwella, Asela Gunaratne, Chamara Kapugedera, Nuwan Kulasekera, Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Malinga, Kusal Mendis, Nuwan Pradeep, Seekkuge Prasanna, Kusal Perera, Thisara Perera, Lakshan Sandakan and Upul Tharanga.