PAK v AFG, ODI Series— Pakistan Announce 18-member Squad for an ODI Series Against Afghanistan

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Shan Masood Out, Saud Shakeel In

Lahore, August 09: Legendary batter Inzamam-ul-Haq as new chief selector announced a 18-member squad for the forthcoming ODI series against Afghanistan. The series will be hosted in Sri Lanka.

Shan Masood, who was appointed ODI vice-captain in January this year, has been dropped while middle-order batters Saud Shakeel and Tayyab Tahir have been selected. All-rounder Faheem Ashraf also makes a comeback.

This 18-member squad announced by the new chief selector will also feature in the upcoming Asia Cup that is due in Pakistan and Sri Lanka in September this year.

“Preference has been given to Faheem Ashraf, since the squad doesn’t have another allrounder,” Inzamam said at a press conference after announcing the squad. “If you look at PSL (Pakistan Super League) and other tournaments, we need an allrounder, he is a fast-bowling allrounder, which we need at the World Cup.”

On the exclusion of Shan Masood, Inzamam said, “Shan has performed very well. Unfortunately, his performances have gone down. We have a list of 20-21 players, and Shan is part of that. But Saud Shakeel and a couple of other players were impressive recently, so we have to leave out Shan. But he is a part of our plans.”

Pakistan ODI squad: Babar Azam (capt), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Saud Shakeel, Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Wasim Jr, Tayyab Tahir, Mohammad Haris, Faheem Ashraf.