Pakistan name squads for home series against West Indies, Shoaib Malik, Sarfaraz Ahmed left out

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Thursday, December 2 announced their squad for the T20I and ODI at home series against West Indies. Hasan Ali, Imad Wasim, Sarfaraz Ahmed, and Shoaib Malik who featured in the recently concluded T20I series against Bangladesh have been left out from the setup.

Whereas fast bowler Mohammad Hasnain has been included in the 15-man squad. Out of the 17 players who were up for selection in the ODIs against England earlier this year, Asif Ali, Haider Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, and Mohammad Wasim Jnr have replaced Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Salman Ali Agha and Sarfaraz Ahmed in the 17-member squad.

West Indies and Pakistan will lock horns with each other for three T20Is and as many ODIs. The first T20I is scheduled for December 13 and will be played at the National Stadium Cricket Ground in Karachi. Chief selector Muhammad Wasim asserted that as the side has been playing T20 cricket since October, they have decided to reduce the number of players to 15.

“As we have been playing T20Is since October and now have a pretty settled and balanced side, we have decided to reduce the number of players to 15. As such, we have not included Imad Wasim, Sarfaraz Ahmed, and Shoaib Malik.

“For the ODIs, which we last played in July, we have accepted the team management’s request and provided them with two additional resources. In consultation with Hasan Ali and taking into consideration that he has been playing non-stop cricket since returning from a back injury, we have decided to give him time off from this series,” Wasim said as quoted by PCB.

Here are the Pakistan squads for the West Indies series: 

T20I squad: Babar Azam (C), Shadab Khan (VC), Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (WK), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Shaheen Afridi, Shahnawaz Dahani, Usman Qadir

ODI squad: Babar Azam (C), Shadab Khan (VC), Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imam-ul-Haq, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (WK), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Mohammad Hasnain, Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Afridi, Shahnawaz Dahani, Usman Qadir

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— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) December 2, 2021