Shadab Khan named captain for Afghanistan T20Is as Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi among others rested
Shadab Khan named captain for Afghanistan T20Is as star players rested
Pakistan's leg-spinner Shadab Khan was named as captain for the Afghanistan T20Is on Monday as star players like regular skipper Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi, and Mohammad Rizwan among others rested. The PCB, in a statement, said some of the players got rest keeping in mind their workloads going forward.
The statement further stated considering the 2024 T20 World Cup, the board decided to name a new-looking highly-talented squad for the Afghanistan T20Is, which start on March 24th in Sharjah.
"With one eye on the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 and the other on ensuring the careers of their elite cricketers are extended by strategically managing their workloads, the Pakistan cricket selectors today named a new-look and highly-talented 15-player squad," the release stated.
While the stars are given the required rest, the board picked a few young and new faces in Ihsanullah, Saim Ayub, Tayyab Tahir and Zaman Khan, whereas, Abdullah Shafique, Azam Khan, Faheem Ashraf and Imad Wasim also got recalled to the Pakistan T20I side. On the flip side, Asif Ali, Haider Ali, Mohammad Hasnain and Khushdil Shah got dropped.
The board also appointed former batter Mohammad Yousuf as the interim head and batting coach for the Afghanistan T20Is. Whereasthe chair of the selection committee Haroon Rashid explained why top names are missing from the squad, saying to ensure their smooth transition from competitive cricket to international and for them to regroup, they got rested.
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"Babar, Fakhar, Haris, Rizwan and Shaheen have been provided breaks from the short Sharjah trip to allow them to switch off from competitive cricket so that they can complete their rehabilitations, regroup, recompose and recharge their batteries and be fully fit for the challenges in the tough and challenging 2023-24 season," said Chair of the selection committee, Haroon Rashid.
PCB chairman Najam Sethi also commented on Shadab’s promotion to becoming a T20I captain, saying, "I want to congratulate Shadab Khan on his appointment as the Pakistan team captain for the series against Afghanistan. Shadab Khan has been the Pakistan vice-captain in white-ball cricket for the past couple of years and, logically, he takes over the side in the absence of Babar Azam for the short three-match T20I tour of Sharjah.
Here is Pakistan’s 15-man T20I squad for the Afghanistan series –
Shadab Khan (captain), Abdullah Shafique, Azam Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Ihsanullah, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shan Masood, Tayyab Tahir, Zaman Khan.
