LAHORE: In order to fill the dearth of international fixtures before the all-important Asia Cup and ICC Men’s ODI World Cup later this year, Pakistan have been exploring options to play a series of intra-team 50-over matches.
Pakistan men’s team chief selector Haroon Rasheed claimed that a plan is under consideration to hold a number of One-Day matches featuring the top 30 to 45 probables to prepare the final squad for the megaevents.
“I’ve already discussed this plan with Babar Azam. I’m just waiting for the announcement of team management and coaches before we could finalise this strategy,” he said in a press conference on Wednesday.
“We will hold a series of matches between Pakistan vs the rest to check the potential of the probable players and our bench strength to help us with the World Cup squad selection.”
Pakistan only have eight ODI matches before the two tournaments- five against New Zealand this month and three against Afghanistan.
Haroon added that the selection committee did not want to experiment too much with the team before the World Cup, saying it is because of this reason all-rounder Imad Wasim was not selected in the national ODI squad for the New Zealand series.
“Imad has not played 50 over matches in the past two and a half years. He has mostly played franchise leagues that’s why we have included him in the T20I but not the ODI squad,” he said.
Justifying Haris Sohail’s selection in the One-Day squad, Haroon said the left-hander was an excellent player against spin and would be a handy option in the middle order considering the subcontinent conditions.
“Haris is an outstanding left-handed batsman. He is good against spin. And we need a player like him in the middle order keeping the sub-continent conditions in mind,” he added.
“If he finds his form in the upcoming matches, his inclusion will strengthen our middle order greatly.”
It is pertinent to mention here that Paksitan named full-strength squads for the home T20I and ODI series against New Zealand.
SQUADS:
T20I: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Ihsanullah, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood and Zaman Khan.
ODI: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Haris Sohail, Ihsanullah, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood and Usama Mir.
Revised Pakistan v New Zealand schedule:
14 Apr – 1st T20I, Lahore
15 Apr – 2nd T20I, Lahore
17 Apr – 3rd T20I, Lahore
20 Apr – 4th T20I, Rawalpindi
24 Apr – 5th T20I, Rawalpindi
26 Apr – 1st ODI, Rawalpindi
30 Apr – 2nd ODI, Rawalpindi
3 May – 3rd ODI, Karachi
5 May – 4th ODI, Karachi
7 May – 5th ODI, Karachi
