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Pakistan T20I captain Salman Ali Agha has confirmed that senior players Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Shaheen Shah Afridi remain in the team’s core plans for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, set to take place next year in India and Sri Lanka.
Addressing the media during the white-ball and pre-Bangladesh series camp in Karachi on Monday, Agha responded to questions regarding the future of the trio, who were left out of the squad for the upcoming three-match T20I series in Dhaka from July 20 to 24.
Babar and Rizwan last featured in T20Is during Pakistan’s tour of South Africa in December, while Shaheen was part of the five-match series against New Zealand in March. Their absence from recent squads raised doubts about their place in the shortest format going forward.
However, Agha made it clear that all three players are part of the management’s plans for the mega event.
“We need to have players who can replace anyone at any given time and thus we are preparing our bench strength,” said Agha.
“As part of our plan for the future [assignments], we have shortlisted a pool of 25 players and those 25 players will be seen playing for the team until the T20 World Cup,” he added.
“Shaheen Shah Afridi, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan are senior players and they are part of the pool,” he further added.
The skipper also addressed concerns around the selection of Mohammad Nawaz, whose recent form in domestic cricket and the Pakistan Super League (PSL) had come under criticism. Agha clarified that Nawaz was chosen as a direct replacement for vice-captain Shadab Khan, who is recovering from shoulder surgery in the United Kingdom and is expected to miss at least three months of action.
“Nawaz was selected because of Shadab’s injury. Performance goes up and down, that’s why it is important to analyse the ability of a player,” Agha explained.
Looking ahead to the Bangladesh series, Agha acknowledged the challenges of facing the hosts in their home conditions. He said the training camp in Karachi was designed to replicate the conditions expected in Dhaka.
“The training camp was held in Karachi keeping the conditions of the upcoming matches in mind. We are going for the next series with ample preparations as Bangladesh can be a challenging team in their home conditions,” he concluded.
