Haider Ali named in Pakistan's 29-member squad for England tour
Pakistan have named a 29-member squad for the upcoming tour of England. The squad is a combination of Test and T20I format, while the selectors will categorize the squads after reaching England. Batsman Haider Ali has earned a maiden call-up in the national team after faring well in the 2020 Under-19 WC. Sohail Khan has also been recalled into the side. Here is more.
Credentials of Haider Ali
Right-handed batsman Haider Ali rose to prominence in the 2019-20 season, wherein he amassed 645 First-class runs at 49.61. Notably, this was his debut season at the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. In the Pakistan Super League 2020, he aggregated 239 runs with a strike-rate of 158.28. Haider also scored 218 runs at the ACC Emerging Teams Cup in Bangladesh, last year.
Kashif Bhatti, Sohail Khan make the cut
Kashif Bhatti is the other uncapped player in the side. The spin bowling all-rounder was in the Test squad against Australia and Sri Lanka. Sohail Khan, who last played for Pakistan in the 2016 Boxing Day Test, has been roped in. Furthermore, the PCB selectors have also named Faheem Ashraf, Fawad Alam, Imran Khan, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hafeez, and Wahab Riaz in the squad.
PCB names four reserves as cover
The likes of Bilal Asif, Imran Butt, Musa Khan, and Mohammad Nawaz have been named as reserves by the PCB. They will act as cover, in case any of the players fail pre-tour COVID-19 testing, which will be carried out on June 20 and 25.
Fast bowlers Hasan Ali, Mohammad Amir, and middle-order batsman Haris Sohail were not available for selection. Hasan is suffering from a sever back injury and will have to continue rehabilitation for another five weeks. Amir withdrew so that he can be present for the birth of his second child in August, while Haris opted out due to fear of COVID-19 pandemic.
Sarfaraz Ahmed included in the squad
Interestingly, former Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed has also been named in the squad. He was removed as captain last year from the Test and T20I formats with Azhar Ali and Babar Azam replacing him. Recently, Babar was handed the charge of limited-overs sides by the PCB. Although Sarfaraz Ahmed retained his central contract, he was demoted to category B in the list.
Here is Pakistan's full squad for England tour
Squad: Abid Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Shan Masood, Azhar Ali (C), Babar Azam (C), Asad Shafiq, Fawad Alam, Haider Ali, Iftikhar Ahmad, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Imran Khan, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sohail Khan, Usman Shinwari, Wahab Riaz, Imad Wasim, Kashif Bhatti, Shadab Khan, and Yasir Shah.
