Shadab Khan named captain as Pakistan announces T20 squad for Afghanistan

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has revealed a 15-player team for a three-game T20 series against Afghanistan. In the absence of regular captain Babar Azam, who has been given a break, all-rounder Shadab Khan has been appointed as the team captain.

The Managing Committee head of the PCB, Najam Sethi, along with the Chief Selector, Haroon Rashid, declared the squad selection, stating that the team’s future strategies were taken into consideration when finalizing the squad.

Squad

• Shadab Khan (captain)
• Abdullah Shafique
• Azam Khan
• Faheem Ashraf
• Iftikhar Ahmed
• Ihsanullah
• Imad Wasim
• Mohammad Haris
• Mohammad Nawaz
• Mohammad Wasim Junior
• Naseem Shah
• Saim Ayub
• Shan Masood
• Tayyab Tahir
• Zaman Khan

The three-game T20 series will take place in Sharjah between March 24 and 27. Although Afghanistan has previously faced Pakistan in three T20 Internationals and four ODIs during multi-national tournaments, they have yet to secure a victory. This bilateral series marks the first time the two countries will compete against each other in this format.

The PCB has announced that Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Rizwan, and Shaheen Shah Afridi have been given a rest and will not be part of the squad for the three-match T20 series against Afghanistan.

The PCB statement further mentions that during the selection process, Asif Ali, Haider Ali, Mohammad Hasnain, and Khushdil Shah were also not included in the final squad. It is important to note that all of these nine players were part of the Pakistan squad that qualified for the final of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 against England in Australia.