Shadab Khan has been named captain of Pakistan Cricket Board's (15-member) Sharjah tour squad for the forthcoming T20I series against Afghanistan.
Prior to the team's announcement, PCB chief Najam Sethi stated that the series would give opportunities to young players who had excelled in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2023 and that he had taken the senior players Babar Azam, Muhammad Rizwan, and Shaheen Shah Afridi into confidence regarding the strategy.
Separately, Sethi congratulated Shadab on being named captain of the Pakistani team for the series against Afghanistan in a press release.
Over the previous few years, Shadab Khan has served as Pakistan's vice-captain in white-ball cricket, so it is only fitting that, in Babar Azam's absence, he will serve as the team's captain for the quick three-match T20I tour to Sharjah.
Mohammad Yousuf has been appointed as the team's temporary head coach and batting coach for the brief Sharjah tour in order to "keep consistency" for the tour.
Since last year, Yousuf has served as a hitting instructor for both the national team and the National High-Performance Center.
Chief Selector Haroon Rasheed provided an explanation of the reasoning behind resting the senior players, claiming that they have adhered to the conventional rotation policy by allowing high-performing domestic performers the opportunity to demonstrate their talent and potential on the international stage while resting the top players.
According to him, by doing this, the board will be able to evaluate the personalities and abilities of the players and expand its player pool in anticipation of the T20 World Cup that will be held in the West Indies and the United States the following year.
But in doing so, we have made sure to pick a team that is equally as powerful and capable of taking the series from a strong Afghanistan team for whom Sharjah is like a second home. In order to accomplish that, we brought back four seasoned cricketers and combined them with four uncapped players to create a 15-player team that is genuinely a blend of youth and experience.
Ihsanullah, Saim Ayub, Tayyab Tahir, and Zaman Khan were inducted into the national team. Rasheed thanked them for their selection following a string of impressive showings in both the local circuit and the PSL 8.
The PSL showed that players like Azam Khan, Abdullah Shafique, Faheem Ashraf, and Imad Wasim can be successful in the shortest format while still bringing consistency and experience to the team. They have therefore been called back.
In order for Babar, Fakhar, Haris, Rizwan, and Shaheen to finish their rehabilitations, band together, recompose, and recharge their batteries in order to be fully prepared for the challenges in the arduous and challenging 2023–24 season, they were offered vacations from the brief Sharjah trip.
Workload management:
For the previous 15 months, Babar and Rizwan have practically been traveling while Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, and Shaheen have fought injuries.
Whereas Babar has played in ten Tests, twelve ODIs, and twenty-six T20Is, Rizwan has played in eight Tests, eleven ODIs, 25 T20Is, and 22 PSL games in addition to a few matches in the Bangladesh Premier League. 23 T20 Internationals, 23 PSL contests, 10 ODIs, and 1 Test have all seen Hari's play.
Fakhar and Shaheen have respectively played in 10 and 9 PSL games, demonstrating their excellent rates of knee injury recovery. But, it will take longer for both of the best players to complete their recuperation and become fully match-fit.
Shaheen missed three months of action in July due to a knee injury she suffered during the first Galle Test, and Fakhar experienced knee issues both before and during the T20 World Cup. Although coming back for the T20 World Cup, Shaheen missed the home series against England and New Zealand in December 2022 and January 2023.
Pakistan is scheduled to compete in 25 T20 Internationals, seven ICC World Test Championship matches, and eight One Day Internationals in the 15 months before the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 and the 50-over Asia Cup 2023.
Squad
Shadab Khan (captain) (Islamabad United), Abdullah Shafique (Lahore Qalandars), Azam Khan (Islamabad United), Faheem Ashraf (Islamabad United), Iftikhar Ahmed (Quetta Gladiators), Ihsanullah (Multan Sultans), Imad Wasim (Karachi Kings), Mohammad Haris (Peshawar Zalmi), Mohammad Nawaz (Quetta Gladiators), Mohammad Wasim Junior (Islamabad United), Naseem Shah (Quetta Gladiators), Saim Ayub (Peshawar Zalmi), Shan Masood (Multan Sultans), Tayyab Tahir (Karachi Kings), Zaman Khan (Lahore Qalandars)
Reserve players – Abrar Ahmed (Islamabad United), Haseebullah (Peshawar Zalmi), and Usama Mir (Multan Sultans)
