SERIES AGAINST SRI LANKA: PCB recalls Umar, Ahmed for training camp

ISLAMABAD: The all powerful man in the national cricket selection matters — Misbahul Haq — has recalled Umar Akmal and Ahmed Shehzad amongst the national camp probables announced on Monday for the series against Sri Lanka.

While Umar has been out of favour for almost two years now, Ahmed Shehzad has not played any international cricket for almost a year. Both also missed the World Cup held in England at the start of summer.

The batting pair now has got a new lease of life to revive their international careers and there will be no better opportunity for them if they get selected in the final lineup for the One-Day and T20 series against under-par Sri Lankan side.

The 20 probables for the series will start their camp training at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore from Wednesday.

Ageing Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik have not been named in the probables list as they have been granted NOC until October 12 to participate in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).

The upcoming ODI and T20I series against Sri Lanka will be held from September 27 to October 9.

The final squads for back-to-back T20 and One-Day series will be named on September 21 by none other than chief selector and head coach Misbahul Haq.

Probables (in alphabetical order, domestic teams in brackets): Sarfaraz Ahmed (captain-Sindh), Babar Azam (vice-captain-Central Punjab), Abid Ali (Sindh), Ahmed Shehzad (Central Punjab), Asif Ali (Northern), Faheem Ashraf (Central Punjab), Fakhar Zaman (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Haris Sohail (Balochistan), Hasan Ali (Central Punjab), Iftikhar Ahmed (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Imad Wasim (Northern), Imamul Haq (Balochistan), Mohammad Amir (Northern), Mohammad Hasnain (Sindh), Mohammad Nawaz (Northern), Mohammad Rizwan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Shadab Khan (Northern), Umar Akmal (Central Punjab), Usman Shinwari (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) and Wahab Riaz (Southern Punjab).

Team management for the series against Sri Lanka: Misbahul Haq (head coach and chief selector); Mansoor Rana (Team Operations, Logistics and Administrative Manager); Waqar Younis (Bowling Coach); Grant Bradburn (Fielding Coach); Shahid Aslam (assistant to head coach on cricket), Cliffe Deacon (physiotherapist); Yasir Malik (trainer); Maj (r) Azhar Arif (Security Manager — for Sri Lanka series), Col (r) Usman Anwari (Security Manager — for Australia tour), Raza Kitchlew (team media manager), Talha Butt (team analyst) and Malang Ali (masseur).