Pakistan name aggressive World Cup squad

Sport360 staff 18:11 07/01/2015
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  • The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to go up with a strong pace attack in the 2015 World Cup selecting five fast-bowlers in the 15-man touring party to fill the void left by Saeed Ajmal’s suspension.

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    PCB Chairman Shaharyar Khan approved the squad picked up by the six-member selection committee headed by Moin Khan after consultations with head coach Waqar Younis and skipper Misbah ul Haq.

    There is no place for old horses Shoaib Malik and Kamran Akmal despite doing well in recent domestic events and selectors have kept faith with Umar Akmal and Sohaib Maqsood instead while leg-spinner Yasir Shah has also been included.

    Pacer Sohail Khan has come in as a very late inclusion after doing tremendously well in the domestic cricket picking up 64 wickets in Quaid-e-Azam Trophy – premier first-class competition – while he also claimed four and six-wicket hauls in 50-over Pentangular Cup staged to pick up players for World Cup.

    The only surprise is the exclusion of an fast-bowling allrounder in either Anwar Ali or Bilawal Bhatti.

    “This is the best possible squad from the available resources, and the selectors believe it has the requisite talent and skill-set to recapture the World Cup Down Under after 22 years”, said chief selector Moin Khan.

    ‘’My request to all Pakistanis is to back the national team in its quest for glory. Four factors were of prime import for selectors: Suitability to play in conditions in Australia and New Zealand; performance in international contests; performance in domestic cricket and preference to the choices suggested by captain and head coach.”

    The squad contains two openers, four middle order batsmen, five pace bowlers, one spinner, two all-rounders and a wicket-keeper/batsman.

    Moin further added that selectors have preferred specialists over bits and pieces players.

    “Of the selected squad of 15, eight have played in the last World Cup, while the remaining seven have been picked after their recent form impressed the selectors. This makes it a pretty decent blend of experience and youth. Despite a recent poor run of form in limited-overs cricket, in my mind, there’s no doubt on the capability of this side to excelling in the World Cup,” Moin stated.

    “It indeed is a formidable unit, with the potential and natural flair to perform well at the ICC’s premier global showpiece event. And if the boys hit form individually and as combinations and peak at the right time, this bunch has the capacity to go all the way to the winners’ podium.”
     

     15-member squad: (In alphabetical order)

    Ahmed Shehzad, Ehsan Adil, Mohammad Hafeez, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Irfan, Junaid Khan, Misbah ul Haq (captain), Sarfraz Ahmed (w.k), Shahid Afridi, Sohaib Maqsood, Sohail Khan, Umar Akmal, Wahab Riaz, Yasir Shah, Younis Khan

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