The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) left out express pacer Haris Rauf from the 15-man squad named on Sunday for next month’s ICC T20 World Cup jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka, although former captains Babar Azam and Shaheen Shah Afridi were named.
The announcement was made in a press conference by PCB High Performance Director and member of the men’s national selection committee Aaqib Javed, who was speaking alongside skipper Salman and white-ball head coach Michael James Hesson at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
The 32-year-old Rauf finished with 20 wickets in the Big Bash League in Australia, but selector Aaqib Javed said he doesn’t fit in the combination. “Rauf has played a lot of cricket for Pakistan, but we kept conditions in Sri Lanka in mind while selecting the squad,” Javed told a press conference in Lahore. Rauf is also the highest wicket-taker for Pakistan in T20I cricket with 133 in 94 matches. Among the players, Salman, Faheem Ashraf, Khawaja Mohammad Nafay, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Sahibzada Farhan and Usman Tariq have received their maiden mega-event call-ups to the Pakistan squad, PCB said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Abrar Ahmed, Babar, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shaheen, Shadab Khan and Usman Khan have played in at least one or more editions of the tournament since 2021, the statement added.
In the 20-team tournament, each team is set to play four group games before the Super Eight and Knockout Stage, all between February 7 and March 8. Pakistan are also set to face Australia in a three-match T20I series at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore on January 29, 31 and Feb 1, with the preparation camp starting today, the PCB statement said.
Babar and Shaheen were also named in Pakistan’s squad for the three-match series after being dropped from the T20I series against Sri Lanka last month.
When asked during the presser about Babar’s inclusion in the World Cup squad despite “not meeting international standards”, Javed said he has been “the most consistent batsman”.
On Thursday, Babar announced that he would miss the remainder of the Big Bash League in Australia since he had been recalled to Pakistan for a national team camp ahead of the T20I series with Australia.
Salman, on being asked if Pakistan stood to gain an advantage similar to “the way India did during the previous ICC Champions Trophy, as all their matches were in the UAE,” the captain admitted that Pakistan did have an advantage this time. However, he maintained that winning depended on whether the team played well.
“India won because they played good cricket. If we do the same, we will win as well,” Salman said. Following India’s refusal to travel to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy in 2025, a “hybrid model” was decided upon whereby India played all its matches in Dubai, chosen as a neutral venue.
As per the compromise, Pakistan are set to play all their matches at the upcoming T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka, though PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi said on Saturday their participation was still not confirmed.
Salman further said that “in the past three tournaments, the team had not performed well”. He continued: “When you play a world cup, it is always going to be tough[..] you can not stay relaxed in any situation [..] it will be challenging, and we are both ready and excited for it”.
When asked “why Muhammad Rizwan was not chosen to be in the squad despite having more experience in Sri Lanka than Babar,” Javed said, “You have to take into account the batting composition of your team – both the coach and captain think that babar can play a vital role in the team – so it does not mean that one is being given a chance and the other is not, we have to look at how the team can have a more competiteive batting line up”. He went on to say that the argument had “no logic”.
“You have to look at who fits better in the squad and which player can make the team better,” he added.
Head coach Hesson, responding to a question about the inclusion of Khawaja Nafay and Usman Khan as the wicket keepers despite Nafay’s “inexperience, and Usman’s “poor performance”, maintained that “Usman Khan has been exceptional since he has come back in the squad”.
“His wicket-keeping has probably been better than expected,” Hesson said.
He continued: “As for Khawaja Nafay, we looked at Sahibzada Farhan as the backup keeper, but unfortunately, he became a bit vulnerable to injury with the extra load from a keeping perspective. That was something we did not want to risk”.
The head coach stressed that Farhan was a “big player” for the team.
“The fact that we would have to put him in a difficult situation forced our hand a little bit […] that is where Nafay came in as a power player,” the head coach said.
“We are very comfortable with the two keeping options we have,” he added.
Salman, in response to a question over whether Babar’s “performance was a cause for concern”, said that the player’s performance “has not been as bad as you people portray it to be, his performance in the Big Bash did not go well, but it was in different conditions”.
“I think since his comeback, he has been performing well in the T20s and all that matters to me is that he performs well for Pakistan,” the captain added. Detailing the batting plan, the captain said that “other than the openers, the rest of the line can only be decided given what the situation is”.
“In T20, other than openers, you have no idea what situation you will find yourself in,” he added. Speaking about the line-up, Javed maintained that it was the same squad “which had been in continuity for the past three to four series”. “It is not like we have formed a special or different team for the World Cup. However, different conditions are always taken into account, and changes can be made,” he said. 15-member squad for T20 World Cup: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Khawaja Mohammad Nafay (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan (wk), Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan (wk) and Usman Tariq.