T20 World Cup 2022: Pakistan name 15-member squad, Shaheen Afridi returns

Pakistan have announced a 15-member squad for the upcoming 2022 T20 World Cup with their star pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi making his return to the national side. The left-arm pacer was not available for the recently concluded Asia Cup owing to an injury.

However, the left-arm pacer is expected to be fit and will look to get back to form as quickly as possible. Apart from Shaheen, Naseem Shah, who impressed everyone with his bowling antics during the Asia Cup, has also been included in the squad.

No place for veteran Shoaib Malik

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has not named veteran batter Shoaib Malik. Meanwhile, another senior batter Fakhar Zaman, who did not have much of a good time during the Asia Cup, has been placed in the reserves due to a knee injury.

Shan Masood, who had a good stint during the 2022 County Championship and the T20 Blast, has been named. Similarly, batter Haider Ali, who has not represented Pakistan recently, has also been included in the squad. 

The Men in Green are set to face England in a seven-match T20I series slated to start on September 20. Pakistan are coming after suffering a hard defeat at the hands of Sri Lanka in the final encounter of the recently concluded Asia Cup.

Babar Azam and Co. are set to face their arch-rivals India in their tournament opener of the T20 World Cup and they will want to reach the tournament on a high note after defeating the Three Lions in the T20I bilateral series at home, and New Zealand and Bangladesh in a tri-series in New Zealand.

Pakistan squad for T20 World Cup 2022

Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan (vc), Asif Ali, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood, Usman Qadir

Reserves: Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Haris, Shahnawaz Dahani