Shadab, Nawaz back in squad for West Indies ODIs

LAHORE: All-rounders Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz have returned to Pakistan’s squad for next month’s One-day International series against the West Indies, selectors said on Monday.

Shadab, 23, and Nawaz, 28, were part of Pakistan’s Twenty20 series against the West Indies in December but have since been out of action with injury.Babar Azam will continue to lead the side.

The three-match series against the Windies will be staged in Rawalpindi on June 8, 10 and 12. The ODIs were initially slated as part of the West Indies’ 2021 tour of Pakistan but were postponed after a spate of Covid cases in the visitors’ camp.

“Nawaz and Shadab are now fully fit, which has allowed us to leave out Asif Afridi and Usman Qadir,” said chief selector Mohammad Wasim in a statement. “We have retained the same core of players so they further establish themselves in the format. I hope this bunch will continue the form they gained from the Australia series.”Also, and taking into consideration that there will be no Managed Event Environment and the players can be called at a short notice, we have reduced the squad size to 16 players.

“Usman along with Asif Ali and Haider Ali remain in our plans for the shortest format as we have a series of T20I lined up this year, including the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022,” said Wasim.

The 16-man squad will assemble in Rawalpindi on June 1 for a training camp. English County Championship players Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Rizwan and Shadab will join later.

The squad includes three openers in Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq, three middle-order batters in Babar Azam, Iftikhar Ahmed and Khushdil Shah, two wicketkeepers in Mohammad Haris and Mohammad Rizwan, two spin all-rounders Mohammad Nawaz and Shadab Khan with Zahid Mahmood as a wrist spinner and five fast bowlers in Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Wasim Junior, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Shahnawaz Dahani.

Pakistan boasts three batters inside the top-15 of ICC player rankings with Babar sitting on top of the tree, followed by third-ranked Imam-ul-Haq and 12th-ranked Fakhar Zaman. Amongst the bowlers, Shaheen Shah Afridi is the highest-ranked player in seventh position.

Squad: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan, Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imam-ul-Haq, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Junior, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shahnawaz Dahani, Zahid Mahmood. —with input from agencies