World Cup 2019: PCB announce Pakistan's final 15-man squad for the tournament

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has taken some big decisions after the team’s 4-0 series loss to England. The selection panel led by Inzamam-ul-Haq has made as many as three changes to the preliminary World Cup squad announced last month. Mohammad Amir, despite not playing any of the games due to illness, has made a comeback thanks to Pakistan’s lacklustre bowling in the recently concluded ODI series.

Wahab Riaz has made a surprise comeback to the Pakistan line-up after being nowhere close to the discussions in the recent past. He, most probably, has got the nod due to his experience of playing in England’s conditions and very few must have forgotten the kind of spell he had delivered to Shane Watson in 2015 edition. Asif Ali has also been included after his lower-order heroics with the bat in England.

Unfortunately, he lost his two-year-old daughter who was battling cancer only hours after the fifth ODI and he is probably with his family at the moment.

Who all were axed?

A poor show in the England series has led to Faheem Ashraf being axed. He was under the pump in this series after a poor show in the first couple of matches. Ashraf opened the bowling for Pakistan in two innings and sent down as many as 19 overs and conceded a massive 144 runs. He could pick up only 1 wicket and that led to him getting dropped from the team for the rest of the series.

Along with him, Abid Ali has also been axed who played only the final ODI and scored five runs which was expected after the kind of a show Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq put throughout the series. If needed Mohammad Hafeez can also open the innings during the World Cup in case of injuries. Junaid Khan seemed to be a brilliant pick in the preliminary squad.

But he couldn’t justify the selection in the two matches which he played. On the flat pitches, the pacer was found wanting and conceded runs at an economy of 7.88 in the 18 overs which he bowled. He probably lost his place to Wahab Riaz and the fans would now be hoping that this 15-man squad wins the World Cup for Pakistan.

Here’s Pakistan’s final World Cup squad: Sarfaraz Ahmed (C), Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Asif Ali, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Hafeez, Haris Sohail, Shadab Khan, Imad Wasim, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Amir, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Wahab Riaz and Mohammad Hasnain.