The stage for the eighth edition of the ICC ICC Men’s T20 World Cup has been set as teams are preparing their departure to the land of the Aussies. One of those teams is the Dark Horse of the cricketing world, Pakistan Cricket Team.
Pakistan is one of the successful teams in ICC Men’s T20 World Cup’s history, having won the title in only the second edition of the event in 2009 while they also played the final of the first edition which they ended up losing against their arch-rivals India. Pakistan has been featured in the semi-finals of the event on a record three occasions 2010, 2012 and 2021 respectively making them one of the consistent sides of the event. After a heartbreaking loss in the Semi-Finals of last year’s event at the hands of Australia, Pakistan has been having rough 2022, having won only 6 T20Is out of 14.
After a campaign full of ups and downs in the Asia Cup held in the UAE, Pakistan ended up playing the final only to come short as they were beaten by a determined Sri Lankan team. Continuous failures by a weak middle order was termed the cause of such a terrible loss by the media and the fans who demanded changes in the team.
With high pressure on their shoulders, On the 15th of September, the selection committee of the Pakistan Cricket Team unveiled a surprising 15-men squad with three reserves for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup held in Australia. Shan Masood made his way into the squad after putting on stellar performances in the domestic circuit and he is deemed as answer to Pakistan’s terrible middle order problem by the selectors. Superstar fast bowler Shaheen Afridi also returned to the squad after missing out on the Asia Cup due to a knee injury along with him returned young pace ace Muhammad Wasim who also missed out on the Asia Cup due to injury. Meanwhile Fakhar Zaman, wicket-keeper Mohammad Haris and Shahnawaz Dahani couldn’t make the cut as they were announced as the travelling reserves.
So with these changes Pakistan’s squad for the World Cup looks like this. In the batting department, Pakistan has a mighty top-order, with Rizwan and Babar making runs for fun against top oppositions. Babar lost his form for a while as he constantly failed in the Asia Cup but he has since found his way back as he scored a brilliant century against England recently in a bilateral series at home. Rizwan doesn’t seem to lose his touch from last year as he is scoring runs very comfortably. The main problem of the Pakistan team for a while has been their middle order but to fans’ frustration, the selection committee has failed to recognise this as they still went with an out of form Khushdil Shah along with a confused Iftikhar Ahmed and an inexperienced Haidar Ali. Shan Masood has been called up to fix the middle order but he hasn’t been upto the mark as well after playing a few forgettable innings against England in their 7 match bilateral series at home. The lower order consists of a mighty yet untrustworthy Asif Ali who can change the game in one over on his day as seen in last year’s event. Also two in-form spin all-rounders leg-spinner Shadab Khan and off spinner Muhammad Nawaz have secured their place in the squad, while Usman Qadir also made the squad as a back-up leg spinner.
Pakistan has always been known for their pace bowling factory and just like their every World Cup squad till date, there are zero issues with the pace bowling department that is young but reliable. Pakistan has included five pace bowlers in their squad, keeping in mind the Aussie conditions that favor pace bowling. Ace pacer Shaheen Afridi along with Muhammad Wasim Jr has returned to the squad after being sidelined for a while due to injuries. Express pacers Muhammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah and a red hot in-form Haris Rauf who is already renowned in Australia due to his magnificent performances in the Big Bash League.
Few changes are expected to be made in this squad after an embarrassing 4-3 defeat at the hands of England in a 7 T20Is bilateral series in home conditions. According to reports, Fakhar Zaman is set to make the main squad in place of Khushdil Shah and grizzled vet Shoaib Malik will return in place of Haidar Ali.
Before playing in their World Cup opener on 23rd Oct against arch-rivals India in Melbourne, Pakistan will travel to New Zealand to take on The Kiwis and Bangladesh in a tri-series starting from 8th October in New Zealand.