The Pakistan cricket team has announced its 15-member squad for the ODI World Cup 2023
On Friday, Pakistan announced their squad for the 2023 World Cup. Naseem Shah was ruled out of the tournament because of his shoulder injury, whereas Hasan Ali, the right-arm pacer who last played in an ODI in June 2022, made a return to the squad as the replacement for Naseem. Haris Rauf, who also faced an injury in the Asia Cup, has retained his place in the squad. Babar Azam will lead the side, with Fakhar Zaman also retaining his place.
PCB chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq said as he announced the squad during a press conference on Friday that, “There are a lot of injury concerns for our fast bowlers. We wanted someone who has experience playing in big tournaments and can pick wickets in the middle, so we have gone with Hasan Ali.”
One of the major surprises was the omission of Faheem Ashraf, and the chief selector stated that the decision was made keeping in mind the middle-over prowess in the bowling attack, as he said, “We were struggling to pick wickets in the middle overs in the Asia Cup, and we know that we have to take wickets in the middle to win matches in India. So we have picked bowlers who can do that.”
Pakistan squad for World Cup 2023: Fakhar Zaman, Imam ul Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Agha Salman, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Usama Mir, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jr., Hasan Ali