Pakistan have announced their squads for the white-ball tour against West Indies, starting August 1. Both sides will play three T20Is and as many ODIs across two venues. Pakistan have decided to stick with Mohammad Rizwan as the ODI captain for the series, with several main players including Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi, and Naseem Shah. All the mentioned players, barring Shaheen, last played for the side in the New Zealand tour following the Champions Trophy. Only Shaheen from these players has made it to the T20I squad.
Opening batter Fakhar Zaman is part of the squad, which will be his first ODI assignment after recovering from the injury that forced him out of the Champions Trophy. His return to the international stage wasn’t much of breaking news after he managed 49 runs across three T20Is on Dhaka’s placid surfaces.
Pakistan have also called in uncapped top-order batter Hasan Nawaz, giving him his maiden ODI call-up. Hasan has had a somewhat hit-or-miss sort of career in T20Is, which, so far, has five ducks, a red-inked century, one unbeaten fifty, among other great and not-so-great starts. Despite his contrasting outings, he has been retained for the T20I leg of the tour.
Besides him, Hasan Ali has also been included in the squad after missing out on the T20I tour of Bangladesh, after he was allowed to stay with his T20 Blast team, Birmingham Bears, by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Inclusion of two pacers means Pakistan had to axe both Salman Mirza and Abbas Afridi from the squad, both of whom bowled decently against Bangladesh recently.
Haris Rauf, who missed the Bangladesh tour following the injury he picked up in the Major League Cricket (MCL), has also returned to the shortest format squad, bolstering the squad further.
The tour will start with a three-game T20I series on August 1 in Lauderhill, following which the teams will travel to Tarouba for the ODI leg of the tour. Pakistan is touring West Indies for a white-ball series for the first time since 2022.
Pakistan white-ball squads for West Indies Tour
T20I squad: Salman Ali Agha (capt), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Sahibzada Farhan (wk), Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Sufyan Moqim
ODI squad: Mohammad Rizwan (capt), Salman Ali Agha, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Mohammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, and Sufyan Muqeem
Series schedule:
31 July – First T20I v West Indies, Central Broward Park & Broward County Stadium, Lauderhill, USA
2 Aug – Second T20I v West Indies, Central Broward Park & Broward County Stadium, Lauderhill, USA
3 Aug – Third T20I v West Indies, Central Broward Park & Broward County Stadium, Lauderhill, USA
8 Aug – First ODI v West Indies, Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Trinidad & Tobago
10 Aug – Second ODI v West Indies, Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Trinidad & Tobago
12 Aug – Third ODI v West Indies, Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Trinidad & Tobago
