LAHORE: Three young cricketers, which are the find of the Pakistan Super League third edition has found place in the national team announced for the upcoming Pakistan and the West Indies three-match T20 International Series.
Pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi, batsman Asif Ali and al-rounder Hussain Talat, who represented Lahore Qalandars and Islamabad United were picked for the series. Afridi, standing at 6’6’’, took 12 wickets in the junior tournament in New Zealand and impressed one and all with his tear-away pace.
In the following Pakistan Super League (PSL), the 17-year-old went from strength to strength and even though his team, Lahore Qalandars, finished last he managed to draw the spotlight onto himself with a match-winning five-for in one of the matches for his team. As these uncapped played have been called in, players of the likes of Haris Sohail, Umar Amin, Aamir Yamin and Muhammad Hafeez have been dropped.
The wicketkeeper batsman Kamran Akmal - who played a pivotal role in steering Peshawar Zalmi to the PSL 2018 final and scored 424 runs in the league - was yet again victimized and failed to win the confidence of the selectors. Kamran should have been considered for selection because head coach Mickey Arthur in a press conference earlier had spoken against Kamran inclusion not a right decision.
The national selection committee headed by Inzamam ul Haq after consultation with Captain Sarfraz Ahmed and Head Coach Mickey Arthur announced the 15-member T20 squad for the three-match series against West Indies.
The three-match T-20I series will be played on April 1, 2 and 3, respectively at National Stadium, Karachi.Asif Ali, Hussain Talat and Shaheen Shah Afridi makes a place in the T-20 squad after performing well in the recent concluded PSL’s third edition. Rahat Ali also gets a chance in the squad after bowling well in the league. Imad Wasim and Ruman Raees have yet to recover from the injury occurred during the PSL, and therefore both were not considered for selection. Usman Khan Shinwari makes a comeback in the team after recovering from his injury, said Inzamam Ul Haq.
T20 Squad: Ahmed Shehzad, FakharZaman, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Sarfraz Ahmed (captain) (wk), Hussain Talat , Faheem Ashraf, Muhammad Nawaz, Shahdab Khan, Muhammad Amir, Hasan Ali, Rahat Ali, Usman Khan Shinwari and Shaheen Shah Afridi.
