Pakistan name 17-man squad for the T20I series against England

Pakistan have named the 17-man squad for the upcoming three-match T20I series against England. All the players reached the UK together itself almost a month ahead of the ongoing Test series and then the visitors had announced the 20-man shortlist for the contest in whites. Similarly, they have now named a shortlist for the T20I series starting from August 28.

Former captain Sarfaraz Ahmed has returned to the T20I squad as well after being named in Tests. However, he didn’t get a chance in red-ball cricket with first choice wicket-keeper Mohammad Rizwan doing well. It remains to be seen now if Sarfaraz gets an opportunity to prove his mettle in the shortest format. Meanwhile, Babar Azam will continue leading the side after winning the T20I series against Bangladesh earlier this year.

T20 specialists will finally get some game time

The T20 specialists like Mohammad Hafeez, Haris Rauf and Imad Wasim among others will finally get some game time in the middle having reached the UK long time ago. They were in the bubble itself with the Test squad all this time and training with them.

Meanwhile, Shoaib Malik has also been named in the squad. He left for England last week and will be soon joining the squad after serving his required quarantine period. PCB had permitted him to meet his family before leaving for the UK and for the same reason, he didn’t travel with the squad.

Left-arm pacer Mohammad Amir will also take the field wearing the green jersey after a long time. He had earlier pulled out of the tour expecting the birth of his second child. However, PCB allowed him to join the squad in England soon after the birth of the baby. Haider Ali has been awarded for his form in PSL in the shortest format and he will be keen to make the most of this opportunity.

Pakistan T20I squad for England series: Babar Azam (c), Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Amir, Naseem Shah, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Shoaib Malik and Wahab Riaz.