Senior players return as Pakistan announces squad for England, West Indies tours

Many senior players make their way back into national colors as Pakistan announces squads for England and West Indies tours starting in July. The Green Shirts will play three ODIs and as many T20Is in England from 8-20 July, before taking on world champions West Indies in five T20Is that will be followed by two Tests.

There have been a number of comebacks, and the most prolific of them being the return of middle-order batsman Haris Sohail on the ODI side, and all-rounder Imad Wasim on the T20I side. Meanwhile, fast bowlers Mohammad Abbas and Naseem Shah have also returned to the Test side.

Yasir Shah’s inclusion is subject to fitness as the wrist spinner is yet to fully recover from the knee injury that sidelined him from the Zimbabwe Tests. The selectors have retained leg-spinner Zahid Mahmood along with left-arm spinner Nauman Ali and off-spinner Sajid Khan for the Jamaica Tests.

Uncapped Saud Shakeel, who missed the South Africa tour due to a last-minute injury, has been recalled to the ODI side. Salman Ali Agha, who has lost his Test spot, has also been named in the ODI squad.

Fakhar Zaman has maintained his place in the original squad after being drafted as an additional player for Zimbabwe T20Is following a stellar performance in South Africa.

The much-awaited entry in the shortest format squad is Quetta Gladiators’ Azam Khan, the 22-year-old hard-hitting batsman.

Let’s take a look at the squads.

ODI Squad

Babar Azam (captain) (Central Punjab), Shadab Khan (vice-captain) (Northern), Abdullah Shafique (Central Punjab), Faheem Ashraf (Central Punjab), Fakhar Zaman (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Haider Ali (Northern), Haris Rauf (Northern), Haris Sohail (Balochistan), Hasan Ali (Central Punjab), Imam-ul-Haq (Balochistan), Mohammad Hasnain (Sindh), Mohammad Nawaz (Northern), Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper) (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Salman Ali Agha (Southern Punjab), Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicketkeeper) (Sindh), Saud Shakeel (Sindh), Shaheen Shah Afridi (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) and Usman Qadir (Central Punjab).

T20I Squad

Babar Azam (captain) (Central Punjab), Shadab Khan (vice-captain) (Northern), Arshad Iqbal (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Azam Khan (Sindh), Faheem Ashraf (Central Punjab), Fakhar Zaman (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Haider Ali (Northern), Haris Rauf (Northern), Hasan Ali (Central Punjab), Imad Wasim (Northern), Mohammad Hafeez (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Mohammad Hasnain (Sindh), Mohammad Nawaz (Northern), Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper) (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Mohammad Wasim Jnr (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicketkeeper) (Sindh), Shaheen Shah Afridi (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Sharjeel Khan (Sindh) and Usman Qadir (Central Punjab).

Test Squad

Babar Azam (captain) (Central Punjab), Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper) (vice-captain) (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Abdullah Shafique (Central Punjab), Abid Ali (Central Punjab), Azhar Ali (Central Punjab), Faheem Ashraf (Central Punjab), Fawad Alam (Sindh), Haris Rauf (Northern), Hasan Ali (Central Punjab), Imran Butt (Balochistan), Mohammad Abbas (Southern Punjab), Mohammad Nawaz (Northern), Naseem Shah (Central Punjab), Nauman Ali (Northern), Sajid Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicketkeeper) (Sindh), Saud Shakeel (Sindh), Shaheen Shah Afridi (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Shahnawaz Dahani (Sindh), Yasir Shah (Balochistan, subject to fitness) and Zahid Mahmood (Southern Punjab).