Pakistan name Babar, drop Rauf in T20 World Cup squad despite doubts over their participation

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced its 15-member T20 World Cup squad on Sunday despite still waiting for the go-ahead from its government to participate in next month’s tournament.

PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi threw his support behind Bangladesh, which was replaced by Scotland on Saturday, after the ICC rejected the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s request to shift its World Cup games from India to Sri Lanka over security concerns.

Naqvi, who supported Bangladesh’s stance, accused the ICC of double standards and said he will follow his government’s instructions on whether to participate in the tournament.

"We are selectors, and our job is to pick the team,” Aaqib Javed, a member of the selection committee, told reporters in Lahore.

"We’ve announced the team very close to the (ICC) deadline. The government will decide on our participation so I can say nothing on that front. That’s what the chairman has said, too, so we’ll wait for their decision.”

The ICC has set Jan. 30 as the deadline for all 20 participating nations to submit their final squads.

Haris Rauf celebrates after taking a wicket during a T20 match. File

Pakistan selectors excluded fast bowler Mohammad Wasim from the 16-member squad announced for next week’s three-match T20 series against Australia in Lahore.

EXPRESS PACER RAUF DROPPED

They also continued to ignore Haris Rauf, who hasn't played since competing in the Asia Cup last September, but kept faith with struggling batter Babar Azam, who scored 202 runs at a strike rate of 103.06 in 11 Big Bash League games while opening the batting for Sydney Sixers.

Pakistan left out express pacer Haris Rauf from the 15-man squad. The 32-year-old finished with 20 wickets in the Big Bash League in Australia but selector Aaqib Javed said Rauf doesn't fit in the combination.

"Rauf has played a lot of cricket for Pakistan but we kept conditions in Sri Lanka in mind while selecting the squad," Javed told a news conference.

Rauf is also the highest wicket-taker for Pakistan in T20I cricket with 133 in 94 matches.

Salman Agha will lead the squad. Another pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi was declared fit and included in the squad with Naseem Shah and relatively inexperienced Salman Mirza the other fast bowlers in the squad.

"We don’t see him opening the batting (at the World Cup),” head coach Mike Hesson said. "He hasn’t opened the batting for us because the ability to attack in the power play is very important.”

Pakistan cricket team's head coach Michael Hesson, speaks during a press conference in Lahore. AP

Hesson said Babar could come in handy on slow pitches in Sri Lanka where Pakistan is scheduled to play all its games, including the playoffs if it advances in the tournament, starting Feb.7.

"He (Babar) certainly has the skill to control the middle overs, if required, and then to feed the strike to certain players,” Hesson said. "If we’re chasing a lower score, he certainly has that ability to control a chase … the conditions in Australia are significantly different than what we’re going to face in Sri Lanka, so we factored all those things in.”

Hesson said the selectors preferred the three fast bowlers - Shaheen Shah Afridi, Salman Mirza and Naseem Shah - after taking into account their abilities to bowl in all three T20 phases.

With the wickets likely to suit spinners, Pakistan included four spinners: Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Abrar Ahmed and Usman Tariq.

Pakistan plays its opening Group A match against the Netherlands on Feb.7 followed by matches against the United States (Feb.10), India (Feb.15) and Namibia (Feb. 18).

Squad: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Khawaja Nafay, Mohammad Nawaz, Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan, Usman Tariq

Associated Press