Daily Times

LAHORE: Pakistan cricket selectors, headed by former Test skipper Misbahul Haq, on Thursday recalled veteran all-rounders Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik to a 15-member national squad named for the upcoming T20I series against Bangladesh to be played in the last week of this month here at Gaddafi Stadium. The selection committee has also called-up speed merchant Haris Rauf after his brilliant performance in the ongoing Australian Big Bash League. The matches will be played on January 24, 25 and 27. Like Haris, the selectors have also added uncapped batsman Ahsan Ali and fast bowler Amad Butt in the national outfit. Players missing out on selection are Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Sohail, Imamul Haq, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Irfan and Wahab Riaz.

26-year-old Ahsan scored 131 runs in five matches at a strike-rate of just under 149 in the National T20 Cup in Faisalabad in October 2019 after scoring 178 runs at a strike-rate of over 130 for Quetta Gladiators in the Pakistan Super League 2019, while 24-year-old Amad scored 80 runs at a strike-rate of 170 and also took 10 wickets at an economy-rate of 7.62 in the Faisalabad event. For the second T20I squad in succession, head coach Misbah rung in the changes as Pakistan look to break a streak of seven T20Is without a win. Pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi returns to the side for the first time since May, having sat out the T20Is against Sri Lanka and Australia as he recovered from dengue fever, while Usman Qadir, son of former late leg spinner Abdul Qadir, keeps his place and may finally be in line for his debut.

In the last 12 months, Pakistan have lost 8 out of 9 completed T20Is they have played, and a side that were until recently ranked comfortably at the top of the T20I rankings have begun to fall apart. They still hold the number one ranking, but that is more by dint of their remarkable record in the time before this recent string of poor results. Addressing a press conference yesterday, Misbah said: “We have lost eight of our last nine T20Is and as the number-one ranked side, this is unacceptable. We need to end our losing cycle and get back to winning habits leading into the upcoming Asia Cup and ICC T20 World Cup. This has played a critical role in our decision-making. We tried our alternate combinations in the series against Sri Lanka and Australia, and obviously, these didn’t work the way we had expected. Hafeez and Malik bring a total of 200 T20Is between them and if you mix these with the other youngsters we have in the side, then I think it becomes a good blend of experience and youth.” Hafeez was suspended from bowling in England Cricket Board (ECB) competitions just last week after umpires reported him following a match at Taunton, and independent testing revealed he was breaching the 15-degree limit. Hafeez pledged to contest the findings, but as things presently stand, Pakistan will not have his services as a bowler.

Misbah said they needed to continue to experiment until they found a combination that worked for Pakistan. “The seven players who have missed out on selection are by no means out of our planning but considering their recent form in international cricket and taking into account other strong performances in our National T20 Cup, we have decided to make these changes. The high-pressure and quality Pakistan Super League 2020 is starting in four weeks’ time and if they can reclaim their winning form, then they will be back in contention for the upcoming assignments, including the Asia Cup and ICC T20 World Cup. The matches against Bangladesh are part of our preparation, finding the right combination and building for the two major tournaments,” Misbah added.

Another surprise was the axing of pacer Amir, who has taken more wickets in T20I cricket than any other Pakistan bowler since the start of January 2018. He quit Test cricket to focus on white-ball cricket, and there was dismay at the PCB when that happened, who, among other things, demoted his category A contract to one in category C, the lowest category. On dropping him, Misbah, who had himself expressed unhappiness with players picking and choosing what formats they wanted to play in, said: “We tried to be consistent with young players. Having senior bowlers like Amir and Wahab sit out is tough. The whole idea of dropping them is to include younger bowlers in the playing XI.”

Pakistan captain Babar Azam said: “I am happy with the selected squad and want to thank the selection committee for entertaining my request for Hafeez and Malik. I believe they still have plenty to offer to Pakistan cricket in the shortest format and their experience can be critical to our performances in the upcoming series. Ahsan, Amad and Haris have recently shown promise and talent, and I think it is the right time to throw them at the deep end to check their ability to perform at an international level. I am sure home crowd and conditions will complement their talent and they will be able to justify their selections.”

Squad for T20Is:

Babar Azam (captain), Ahsan Ali, Amad Butt, Iftikhar Ahmed Haris Rauf, Imad Wasim, Khushdil Shah Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Musa, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Shoaib Malik and Usman Qadir.