Pakistan to unveil team for World Cup 2019 today

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is scheduled to announce its ICC World Cup 2019 squad today, Thursday.

So far the only thing certain about the squad is that the team would be lead by skipper Sarfraz Ahmed, as the PCB Chairman Ehsan Mani earlier announced about it.

Much debate has been put on whether speedster Mohammad Amir should be included in the squad or not, after the fast bowler has witnessed a prolonged dearth of form. Whereas, cricket pundits also point on the need of a power hitter, with Asif Ali emerging as a strong contender in place of veteran batsman Shoaib Malik. There are also issues at the batting top order as well, with both Shan Masood and Abid Ali competing for the slot

Pakistan will depart for England on April 22, where they would first participate in a five ODI series against England prior the World Cup. The team will then play against Afghanistan and Bangladesh in the tournament warm-ups before opening its World Cup campaign against West Indies on May 31 at the Trent Bridge, Nottingham.

Probable squad

Sarfaraz Ahmed (c), Abid Ali, Asif Ali, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Sohail, Hasan Ali, Imad Wasim, Imam-ul-Haq, Junaid Khan, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood, Shoaib Malik, Usman Shinwari, Yasir Shah