LAHORE: Losing pace sensation Naseem Shah to injury has forced Pakistan to turn to Hasan Ali.

The right-armer, who last featured in a One-day International in June last year, was named in the national team’s squad on Friday for the upcoming World Cup after it was confirmed that Naseem was set to spend up to four months on the sidelines after being advised to undergo surgery.

Haris Rauf, another Pak­i­stan pacer who had an inj­u­ry scare during the recent Asia Cup, was retained after being ruled fit.

The inclusion of 29-year-old Hasan, who was the player of the tournament in Pakistan’s triumphant ICC Champions Trophy campaign in 2017, was a surprising one, given fellow fast bowler Zaman Khan’s impressive show against Sri Lanka in their final Asia Cup match.

Naseem faces four months on sidelines

Pakistan chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq attributed Hasan’s selection to the unavailability of Moham­mad Hasnain and Ihsa­nullah, who, he hinted would have been direct replacement’s for Naseem had it not been for their injuries.

“Before everything else, Naseem Shah’s injury, and other fast bowlers getting injured — like Hasnain and Ihsanullah, constricted our pace bowling options,” said the former Pakistan captain in a press conference here at the Gaddafi Stadium on Friday.

Hasan’s experience of playing 60 ODIs, Inzamam noted, also became a decisive factor for his comeback to the side.

“Hasan is an experienced bowler, even though he has been out of international cricket for a while,” said Inzamam. “He has performed for Pakistan in mega events.”

Inzamam said he picked Zaman over Hasan for the Asia Cup after Haris and Naseem were out injured following Pakistan’s Asia Cup Super Four match against India because the latter was injured back then.

Hasan will add up to the Pakistan pace battery spearheaded by left-armer Shaheen Shah Afridi and also including Mohammad Wasim Jr along with Haris.

With Hasan back, Zaman has been demoted to the travelling reserves along with wicket-keeper Mohammad Haris. Spinner Abrar Ahmed, who has played six Test matches for Pakistan since making his debut in December last year, is the other reserve.

The “mystery” spinner has been added as a cover for Pakistan’s struggling spinners in vice-captain Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz. The bespectacled right-armer’s inclusion has come at the expense of all-rounder Faheem Ashraf — who had made a surprise comeback to the one-day side ahead of the Asia Cup.

Leg-spinner Usama Mir, meanwhile, is in the main squad as Shadab and Nawaz’s direct replacement.

“The three spinners [Shadab, Usama, and Nawaz] have been with the team and are good players,” Inzamam said.

“They need to work harder to be effective in the middle overs, as it is very important for the spinners to play their role in the middle overs.

“Pakistan team has been playing with this combination for the past year. I did not want to tweak the combination a lot. We have kept Abrar in the reserves, in case there is any need. I did not want to make too many changes.”

Pakistan also put their faith in out-of-form opener Fakhar Zaman, who managed only 65 runs in four innings in the Asia Cup. Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar’s regular opening partner, and Abdullah Shafique, who scored a half-century in his only Asia Cup outing, make up the Pakistan top order.

“While Fakhar has been a bit out of form, he has performed well for Pakistan for the past few years,” Inzamam observed. “He is a game-changer.

“Abdullah Shafique has performed too. The competition is healthy as it raises the standard of performance.”

With captain Babar Azam spearheading it, Pakistan’s middle-order includes wicket-keeper Mohammad Rizwan, Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed and Saud Shakil — who was backed for his ability to dominate against spinners, which he displayed during Pakistan’s successful Test series against Sri Lanka in July.

INZAMAM RUES NASEEM’S INJURY

Inzamam expressed his disappointment over Naseem’s injury, which has ruled the bowler out of not only the World Cup but also Pakistan’s three-match away Test series against Australia, which is scheduled for December.

There has been a lot of talk about workload management of the players, especially fast bowlers, who, Inzamam said, may have picked up injuries due to a long period of playing cricket in a hot and humid place like Sri Lanka.

Since July, Pakistan have played two Tests in the island country before a few of them, including Naseem, featured in the Lanka Pre­m­ier League (LPL), which was followed by the Babar-led side’s three-match ODI series against Afghanistan in Hambantota.

Even against the lowly-ranked Afghans, Pakistan chose to go with their first-choice pace attack of Shaheen, Naseem and Haris before they faced the consequences by the end of their Asia Cup campaign.

“They played a Test series there, then the Lankan Premier League, a series against Afghanistan and also Asia Cup matches,” said Inzamam. “We wonder if spending such a long time in such conditions led to injuries to our bowlers as well as some batters.

“Unfortunately, the report we have from our doctors, we hear Naseem will be out for a longer time than just the World Cup.

“At this time, he was the world’s best bowler in my view. It’s a loss for Pakistan. We hope he gets fit soon.”

Despite being depleted by Naseem’s absence and dealt by a forgettable exit from the Asia Cup, Inzamam believed Babar and co. should be backed ahead of an event as big as the World Cup.

“Pakistan were the number one ODI team before the World Cup,” he said. “We have to keep our trust in these players.”

Pakistan, the World Cup cham­p­ions in 1992, begin their campaign agai­nst the Nether­lands on Oct 6 in Hyderabad.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan squad is yet to be granted visas by the Indian High Comm­ission to travel across the border for the 50-over showpiece, Dawn has learnt.

Pakistan are scheduled to fly to the neigbbouring country on Sept 27. The PCB had applied for the team’s visas a few days ago and is still awaiting them five days ahead of the its travel date.

Published in Dawn, September 23th, 2023