Pakistan: After suffering an embarrassing group-stage exit from this year’s T20 International World Cup, Pakistan will be looking to make a strong comeback when they travel to Australia to take part in six white-ball contests.
Keeping in mind the National Team’s recent abysmal form, the nation’s Cricket Governing Body, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is considering making some drastic-changes to the team’s limited-overs setup.
According to some emerging news-reports, veteran wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan is likely to take over the limited-overs leadership duties of Pakistan from Babar Azam. The 32-year-old has performed well for the Shaheens on a regular basis and he can help the team turn around their fortunes with his game awareness and tactical-skills.
As per the report of Cricket Pakistan, the experienced duo of Shadab Khan and Fakhar Zaman might get dropped from the Shaheens’ squad for the T20i and ODI series versus Australia. While Zaman is not on good terms with the PCB following the support he showed towards Babar Azam, Shadab will likely not get a chance to feature in the squads due to his lengthy poor run of form with the ball.
The news-report also claims that the Pakistani selectors are thinking of dropping Iftikhar Ahmed, their main finisher in limited-overs Cricket. In such a scenario, the One Day International and T20 International squads of the Green Shirts are likely to feature a lot of new faces.
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Shaheen Shah Afridi, Babar Azam And Naseem Shah To Return?
In what proved to be a dramatic and bold move, the PCB decided to exclude the trip of Shaheen Shah Afridi, Babar Azam & Naseem Shah from their Test-Squad midway through the test-series versus England, citing the players will be rested keeping in mind the upcoming Australian tour in November.
So it’s highly likely that these three experienced players will make their comebacks in the One-Day International series versus Australia and the duo of Shaheen & Babar will also be featuring in the T20 International squad.
Developing Young Players The Sole Focus of PCB Ahead of Australian tour
If the news-reports are to be beloved, then it’s likely that the Pakistani Cricket Team selectors are keen on giving chances to promising youngsters and will be including several young guns in the T20 International and One Day International squads for the tour of Australia.
While the spin bowling duo of Mehran Mumtaz and Sufiyaan Muqeem are likely to be handed their maiden-call-ups to the national squad, the likes of Qasim Akram, Yasir Khan, Kamran Ghulam and Arafat Minhas are likely to be given chances to prove themselves on the International stage.
Pakistan’s predicted squad for the T20 International series versus Australia
Babar Azam, Zaman Khan, Abbas Afridi, Aamir Jamal, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mehran Mumtaz, Sufiyan Muqueem, Mohammad Rizwan (Captain & WK), Arafat Minhas, Yasir Khan, Mohammad Haris, Saim Ayub, Usman Khan and Qasim Akram.
Pakistan’s Predicted Squad for the One-Day International Series versus Australia
Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Mohammad Rizwan (Captain & WK), Abdullaah Shafique, Babar Azam, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah, Qasim Akram, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usama Mir, Mehran Mumtaz and Haris Rauf.
Also Read: PCB set to drop Fakhar Zaman from ODI Squad vs Australia following his support towards Babar Azam – Report
For more information, visit the official website of Pakistan Cricket
