Daily Times

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) will announce the squad for the ICC World Cup 2023 tomorrow (Sept 22) as chief selector Inzamamul Haq has finalised the names of players.

The squad for the mega event will be announced on Friday morning in a press conference scheduled to take place at 11:15am at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore.

The PCB under Chairman Management Committee Zaka Ashraf on Wednesday evening met the National coaching staff headed by Mickey Arthur, captain Babar Azam, vice-captain Shadab Khan, and former captains Misbahul Haq and Mohammad Hafeez – to review Pakistan cricket team performance in the Asia Cup 2023.

In the meeting, the coaching staff which includes head coach Grant Bradburn, batting coach Andrew Puttick, and bowling coach Morne Morkel were also invited to report on the team’s recent performance. The review meeting was also attended by Dr Sohail Saleem to brief about players’ injuries and the way forward for players’ rehabilitation programmes.

In a robust analysis, every aspect of recent team performance, player fitness, and future plans came into discussion with a view to bringing improvement to the side. There was an agreement on making a better approach and strategy on players’ workload. The importance of strengthening the bench was also emphasised.

The PCB chairman in a statement said, “The philosophy behind this review was to create an atmosphere of open discussion and develop consensus. The idea is to have everyone on board and debate about performances, identifying the problems and their solutions. We have to debate strengths and weaknesses so that we are clear about what and where we need to invest for the betterment of our team.

“Discussion revealed that the previous management had allowed a lot of players to play league cricket which caused them to fatigued ahead of their national duty. But going forward we have agreed to form a proactive approach to tackle players workload and give national duty a priority.

“I am glad we had a good positive review session and are on the same page. We are confident that the experience gained in the Asia Cup was a learning curve and will help prepare for the ICC Men’s World Cup.

“Our team is filled with talent, and we believe they have the capability to compete and win at the highest level. We have world-class batters and bowlers and are committed to providing them with the necessary support and resources to ensure they are well-equipped ahead of the mega event,” he said.