Selectors grapple with key players’ injury issues

ISLAMABAD: To judge the match fitness of key players for the World Cup T20 will be at the top of selectors’ minds as the touring squad for the away back-to-back series in Ireland and England will be announced Thursday (today).

News emerging from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) headquarters suggests that all the unfit players who skipped the entire or part of the series against New Zealand have been declared fit to play.

Haris Rauf, Mohammad Rizwan, Azam Khan, and Irfan Khan Niazi all have been training for the past few days and came through good in fitness tests. Most probably they will be there in the squad to be announced for the back-to-back series. The selectors have already decided to delay naming the final World Cup T20 squad which will now be announced near the end of the series against England. The ICC has set a May 25 deadline to submit the final 15 for the mega event.

The biggest problem for Pakistan selectors is to judge the fitness of some key cricketers which they believe cannot be ascertained unless they play a complete international match. “Though majority of unfit players have been training for the past few days you cannot guarantee their match fitness until they play at international level,” one of the selectors said. “We have seven T20 international matches ahead of the World Cup. The majority of these matches will be used to ascertain the fitness of some key players. At the same time, it is also important to protect the fitness of those already in the business. So we have decided to delay naming the final World Cup squad which will now be done in the third week of May,” he added.

When asked about other top teams’ announcements, he said the majority of these countries don’t have any international commitments ahead of the World Cup T20. “Pakistan is the only country which has seven matches to play before the World Cup. So we have time to see whether some of the key players are match fit.”

The News has learned that all unfit players have undergone fitness tests at the Academy. The results were encouraging but their real test will come on the field during the series against Ireland and later against England.

An 18-member team will be announced on Thursday for the back-to-back series. The majority of players will be those who were seen in action against New Zealand while previously declared unfit will also be part of the team.

“We want the best-fit squad for the World Cup T20. And that will only be possible if we see these cricketers giving their best in international matches and then staying fit for the next match,” the selector said.

The likely tour squad for the two series:

Babar Azam (captain), Mohammad Rizwan (vice-captain), Saim Ayub, Fakhar Zaman, Usman Khan, Iftikhar Ahmad, Shadab Khan, Imad Wasim, Usama Mir, Azam Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Nasim Shah, Irfan Khan Niazi, Abrar Ahmad, Haris Rauf.Aamir Jamal, Abbas Afridi/Zaman Khan.