LAHORE: Haris Rauf is set to make his Pakistan return for the first time since last year’s 50-over World Cup in India as the pacer was named in the national side’s 18-member squad for the upcoming Twenty20 International series against Ireland and England.

The three matches against Ireland followed by four in England will be Pakistan’s final warm-up ahead of the T20 World Cup, which is scheduled to be held in June in the United States and West Indies.

Haris’ return to the Pakistan squad at this point suggests the pacer will feature for the side in the showpiece after a “misunderstanding” with the country’s cricket board saw the latter cancel his contract earlier this year before it got reinstated it in March.

The contract controversy had surfaced after Haris had turn down his call-up to the Pakistan camp for their three-match Test series against Australia in December-January.

The right-armer was also injured during the last season of the Pakistan Super League (PSL), after which his contract cancellation was reversed by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi.

National selection committee member Wahab Riaz, during a press conference for the announcement of the 18-member squad here at the Gaddafi Stadium on Thursday, said Haris’ rehab was in full flow and that the bowler was close to reaching complete fitness.

Along with Haris, Pak­is­tan are monitoring the fitness of Pakistan mainstay wicket-keeper Moha­m­mad Rizwan, Azam Khan and Irfan Khan Niazi — all three picking up injuries during the recent five-match T20 series against New Zealand. All three, however, have been picked for the Ireland and England games.

“All four players are carrying out their respective rehabs and there is improvement,” said Wahab, who was accompanied by three more members of the selection committee in Abdul Razzaq, Bilal Afzal and Mohammad Yousuf. “Haris has also started bowling in the nets and hopefully they all will be fit before the start of the series against England.”

The final assessments of the Haris, Rizwan, Irfan and Azam were conducted on Tuesday at the National Cricket Academy here and the PCB’s Medical Panel believes they are showing significant improvement.

“This progress has provided confidence and encouragement to the PCB Medical Panel and the team management regarding their potential availability during the seven T20I matches (three against Ireland and four against England),” a PCB spokesman told Dawn.

It was because of the lack of clarity over the fitness status of the said players that Pakistan chose to miss the May 1 deadline set by the International Cricket Council for all the 20 participating teams to name their provisional squad for the T20 World Cup.

The Pakistan selectors said they will directly announce the finalised squad for the World Cup on May 24, the last date given by the ICC for it, two days after the side’s first T20 against England.

USAMA AXED

Leg-spinner Usama Mir and pacer Zaman Khan have been axed from the squad that played against New Zealand and seasoned fast bowler Hasan Ali and Test batter Salman Ali Agha have been brought in.

“If we feel Haris is not fully fit then we will have an established bowler in Hasan Ali, so he is the back-up of Haris,” Wahab said while providing justification for Hasan’s selection. On why the pacer wasn’t picked for the New Zealand series, the selector added: “Hasan was already in our consideration but as he also had a contract with English County side Warwi­ckshire, which is why he was not selected to play against New Zealand.”

With another leg-spinner in Abrar Ahmed having been retained, it seems that Usama, who was the highest wicket-taker in this year’s PSL, will not make it to the T20 World Cup.

“We have a good spin bowling attack in Shadab Khan, Imad Wasim, Iftikhar Ahmed, therefore Usama Mir has been dropped to bring in Abrar Ahmed to avoid two bowlers of the same category in the squad,” Wahab said.

Same is highly likely to be the fate of Zaman, who was considered as an able death-overs bowler with more than a few notable performances in the PSL and his 10 T20Is for Pakistan.

Salman, however, comes as a surprise inclusion. The right-hander played only his second PSL season this year and scored 310 runs at an average of 31, striking at 140-27. He played most of his innings on the number three position for champions Islamabad United.

With Rizwan Pakistan’s first choice for the one-down slot and Usman Khan being tested as the wicket-keeper’s potential like-for-like replacement, it is to be seen how is Salman accommodated in the playing XI.

Usman, who gave up on the potential opportunity play for the United Arab Emirates after he was called up for Pakistan following a brilliant show with the bat in the PSL faced criticism for not performing well enough against New Zealand.

Similar doubts were raised over Saim, who failed to make a mark in the series, despite having shown extraordinary attacking ability at the top of the order in franchise T20 cricket.

The selectors reassured their backing for both explosive batters.

“Saim Ayub is good as far as his potential is concerned he just needs one good knock to get back to his true potential,” said Razzaq. “Usman Khan had played good knocks in the PSL and the way he batted in the third match against New Zealand, truly acting upon the team’s game plan, despite the fact he had failed in the first two games, showed he is mentally strong and he has the skill and we should support him,” Wahab said.

The rest of the Pakistan squad for the Ireland and England series has been retained from the New Zealand series, with Babar Azam leading the side. The team is scheduled to leave for Dublin on May 7 following a three-day training camp in Lahore from May 4-6.

Squad: Babar Azam (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Rizwan, Irfan Khan Niazi, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan.

Schedule:

Ireland series:

May 10: First T20I, Dublin

May 12: Second T20I, Dublin

May 14: Third T20I, Dublin

England series:

May 22: First T20I, Leeds

May 25: Second T20I, Birmingham

May 28: Third T20I, Cardiff

May 30: Fourth T20I, The Oval

Published in Dawn, May 3rd, 2024