By Our Correspondent
LAHORE, Pakistan — The Pakistan Cricket Board on Saturday announced a 15-member squad for the ICC T20 World Cup, naming Salman Ali Agha as captain of the national T20 side.
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The squad was unveiled at a news conference attended by Director of the Selection Committee Aaqib Javed, head coach Mike Hesson and Agha.
The selected players include Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Nawaz, Abrar Ahmed and Naseem Shah. Also named were Mohammad Salman Mirza, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Sahibzada Farhan, Faheem Ashraf, Khawaja Muhammad Nafi, Usman Tariq, Saim Ayub and Usman Khan.
Aaqib said the selection was made with team combinations and playing conditions in mind. “We focused on building a balanced squad. Babar remains a key player for us, and experience and form were considered while finalizing the team,” he said.
Agha said the team would need to play disciplined and positive cricket to succeed at the tournament. “Our performances in the last three tournaments have not been up to the mark. The World Cup is always a challenge, and we cannot afford to relax,” he said.
He added that conditions in Sri Lanka generally do not produce high-scoring matches. “Every player understands his role. There has been a lot of talk about Babar’s form, but it is not as bad as people suggest. The conditions in Australia, where he recently played in the Big Bash League, are very different,” Agha said.
Pakistan are set to begin preparations with training camps and warm-up matches in the coming days as they aim to improve on recent results at major international tournaments.
