ICC World Cup 2019: Wasim Akram picks his Pakistan squad for the tournament

Former Pakistan captain and legendary fast bowler, Wasim Akram has picked his Pakistan squad for the upcoming ICC CWC 2019 which will be held in England, set to start on May 30. Pakistan have announced their 23-man probable squad for the mega-event and as per the rule, all the teams have to announce their 15-man squad before the 30th of April with the option of making changes till May 22 without informing the ICC.

Considering the fact that the pitches in England favour the batsman and 300 being a probable par score, Wasim Akram has picked both Asif Ali and Umar Akmal in the squad. Both the batsmen enjoyed a stellar run in the recently concluded PSL 2019 with Asif Ali hitting the highest number of sixes (26) and having the best batting strike-rate of 182.46, and Umar Akmal notching up 277 runs from 10 innings at a healthy strike rate of 137.12. Not to forget, Umar also amassed 150 runs from 5 innings in the recently concluded home series against Australia in which Pakistan endured a 5-0 drubbing.

However, Umar Akmal followed his unsatisfactory performances against Australia by smashing a career-best 108-ball 136 in the opening game of Pakistan Cup in Rawalpindi on Tuesday. He followed it up with a 66-ball 99 and surprisingly, was omitted from the 23-man probable squad for the World Cup.

The 52-year-old also picked the under-fire fast bowler, Mohammad Amir who has taken only 5 wickets from 14 ODI’s since the ICC CT 2017 according to www.cricingif.com.

One notable absentee from Akram’s squad is the veteran, Mohammad Hafeez who is currently nursing a thumb injury and is expected to fit before the World Cup. The former fast bowler has also suggested Pakistan to make arrangements for a reserve batsman, keeper, spinner and a fast bowler to train with the County teams so that the reserve players get acclimatized to the conditions and would be ready to play, as and when required.

Here’s Wasim Akram’s squad for ICC CWC 2019

Fakhar Zaman, Imam-Ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Haris Sohail, Shoiab Malik, Asif Ali, Umar Akmal, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Imad Wasim, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Amir, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain, Hasan Ali

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