Seven members of Pakistan cricket team reach Australia

LAHORE: Seven members of Pakistan’s white-ball squad, including former captain Babar Azam, star pacers Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah, reached Australia Tuesday to prepare for the much-anticipated white-ball series starting November 4.

The other players were Muhammad Irfan Khan, Haris Rauf and Faisal Akram.

Babar, who has been pivotal for Pakistan’s batting lineup, joins Shaheen and Naseem after being rested from the last two Test matches against England. Following the Australia series, Babar and the two pacers will also take a break from the Zimbabwe tour to manage workloads and maintain fitness for upcoming tournaments. Rizwan will lead the side for the Australia matches and Zimbabwe ODIs but will sit out the T20I series in Zimbabwe, giving the leadership reins to all-rounder Salman Ali Agha, the newly appointed vice-captain.

Pakistan Squad for Australia tour: ODI squad: Mohammad Rizwan (c)(wk), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Faisal Akram, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah (wk), Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha (vc) and Shaheen Shah Afridi.

T20I squad for Australia tour: Rizwan (c)(wk), Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah (wk), Jahandad Khan, Abbas Afridi, Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Omair Bin Yousuf, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Ali Agha (vc), Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufyan Moqim, Usman Khan.