||Desk Report||

To be led by Sarfaraz Ahmed, Pakistan have announced a 16-member squad for the upcoming Asia Cup that would be held in the UAE. Veterans such as Mohammed Hafeez and Yasir Shah have been left out from their last ODI squad that faced Zimbabwe, whilst the likes of Shaheen Afridi and Shan Masood have earned their maiden ODI call ups.

Moreover, Imad Wasim, the left-arm bowling all-rounder was ousted from the 18-man preliminary squad – which also had Hafeez in it – for having failed a fitness (Yo-Yo) test, held in Lahore on Monday. Pakistan’s most-awaited contest will be against India, when the neighbors would face each other on  September 19.

Chief Selector Inzamam-ul-Haq spoke about the selection. Haq said, “These players are selected keeping in mind the tough conditions in the UAE and we believe they will do well. The weather there is extremely warm and therefore, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) allowed us to select 16 players for the tournament.”

“Masood is in brilliant form. He has scored 1,300 runs in List A cricket so I think he deserved a place before the upcoming World Cup. On the other hand, Hafeez is in our plans for the upcoming World Cup but right now we felt it is the right time to give youngster a chance in a tournament like this. Hafeez career is not over by any means. We don’t decide which player’s career is finished. We have a lot of cricket coming up before the World Cup, so we will select him at the right time.”

Wasim’s failure to pass the fitness test drew criticism from Haq, who said, “We’ve a clear-cut policy that there is no compromise on fitness. Wasim failed the fitness test, not once but twice and therefore we couldn’t select him. He is a valuable asset and I am sure he will be back in the team very soon.”

It remains to be seen whether how the Pakistani team reacts and performs in the tournament following certain startling decisions taken by the selection committee.

Squad: