Agha says Babar, Rizwan, Shaheen in 25-player pool for T20 World Cup

KARACHI: Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha on Monday, emphasised that the senior trio of Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Shaheen Shah Afridi remain in the national team’s core group of 25 players for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, scheduled to be played next year in India and Sri Lanka.

Agha, while addressing the media on the sidelines of the white-ball and pre-Bangladesh series camp here, was probed about the future of the senior trio, who were left out of the Pakistan squad for the upcoming series, set to be played in Dhaka from July 20 to 24.

Babar and Rizwan’s most recent T20I appearances came in the national team’s away series against South Africa in December last year, while Shaheen was a part of the squad that toured New Zealand for a five-match series in March.

Their exclusion from the green shirts’ recent T20I assignments gave rise to doubts regarding their future, particularly in the shortest format, but Pakistan captain Agha reiterated that the senior trio is still in the management’s plans for next year’s T20 World Cup.

“We need to have players who can replace anyone at any given time and thus we are preparing our bench strength,” said Agha.

“As part of our plan for the future [assignments], we have shortlisted a pool of 25 players and those 25 players will be seen playing for the team until the T20 World Cup.

“Shaheen Shah Afridi, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan are senior players and they are part of the pool.”

Agha also touched on Mohammad Nawaz’s inclusion in the squad for the upcoming away series as the all-rounder’s selection drew criticism due to his below-par performances in the domestic circuit and the previous two editions of the Pakistan Super League (PSL).

The 31-year-old explained Nawaz’s inclusion as a like-for-like replacement for vice-captain Shadab Khan, who underwent surgery on his shoulder in the United Kingdom (UK), which is likely to keep him out of action for three months.

“Nawaz was selected because of Shadab’s injury. Performance goes up and down, that’s why it is important to analyse the ability of a player,” Agha stated.

Speaking about the upcoming series, Salman Ali Agha acknowledged the challenge the Bangladesh team poses in their home conditions.

He further shared that the reason for holding the training camp here was to replicate the conditions on offer in the upcoming fixtures.

“The training camp was held in Karachi keeping the conditions of the upcoming matches in mind. We are going for the next series with ample preparations as Bangladesh can be a challenging team in their home conditions,” Agha concluded.