Babar, Shaheen to play for Pakistan in T20 World Cup; Haris Rauf left out

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) left out express pacer Haris Rauf from the 15-man squad named on Sunday for next month’s ICC T20 World Cup jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka, although former captains Babar Azam and Shaheen Shah Afridi were named.

The 32-year-old finished with 20 wickets in the Big Bash League in Australia but selector Aaqib Javed said Rauf doesn’t fit in the combination.

“Rauf has played a lot of cricket for Pakistan but we kept conditions in Sri Lanka in mind while selecting the squad,” Javed told a press conference in Lahore.

Rauf is also the highest wicket-taker for Pakistan in T20I cricket with 133 in 94 matches.

The announcement was made in a press conference by PCB High Performance Director and member of the men’s national selection committee Aqib Javed, who was speaking alongside skipper Salman and white-ball head coach Michael James Hesson at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

Among the players, Salman, Faheem Ashraf, Khawaja Mohammad Nafay, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Sahibzada Farhan and Usman Tariq have received their maiden mega-event call-ups to the Pakistan squad, PCB said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Abrar Ahmed, Babar, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shaheen, Shadab Khan and Usman Khan have played in at least one or more editions of the tournament since 2021.

In the 20-team tournament, each team is set to play four group games before the Super Eight and Knockout Stage, all between February 7 and March 8.

Pakistan are also set to face Australia in a three-match T20I series at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore on January 29, 31 and Feb 1 with the preparation camp starting today.

Babar and Shaheen were also named in Pakistan’s T20I squad after being dropped for the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka earlier this month, where all-rounder Shadab made his comeback.

When asked during the presser about Babar’s inclusion in the squad despite “not meeting international standards”, Aqib said he has been “the most consistent batsman”.

On Thursday, Babar announced that he would miss the remainder of the Big Bash League in Australia since he had been recalled to Pakistan for a national team camp ahead of the T20I series with Australia.

Aqib also defended Haris’ exclusion from the squad, which was formed “based on where we can have the best composition according to the location”.

“We think about what conditions you are playing it and what combination could work better,” Aqib said, adding that Rauf has been playing for Pakistan “for a long time”.

15-member squad for T20 World Cup:

Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Khawaja Mohammad Nafay (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan (wk), Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan (wk) and Usman Tariq.

Additional input from AFP

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