LAHORE: Young Haider Ali was rewarded for his stupendous recent form with a maiden international call-up for Pakistan’s ‘bio-secure’ tour of England in August-September.
The major surprises in the list of 29 players was the inclusion of former captain Sarfaraz Ahmed, who last played for Pakistan in October 2019, and the recall of fast bowler Sohail Khan, who last played for the country in December 2017.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Friday announced a 29-player squad for three Tests and as many T20Is in the UK.
Haider had an outstanding 2019-20 season, following which he earned an emerging contract for the 2020-21 season.
He was Pakistan U19’s second most successful batsman with 317 runs against South Africa U19 in June, fifth leading run-getter in the ACC Emerging Teams Cup in Bangladesh.
Meanwhile Sohail, whose last played for Pakistan in the Boxing Day Test aginst Australia in 2016, is coming off a good domestic season.
In the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 2019-20, he took 22 wickets in nine matches, while he grabbed seven wickets in the PSL.
The announcement a day after premier pacer Mohammad Amir and middle-order batsman Haris Sohail pulled out of the tour citing personal reasons.
“The selectors have picked a squad which gives us the best chance of success in England. But the main focus of the selectors has been red-ball cricket, which we will play for nearly two months with the T20Is to be played at the backend of the ICC World Test Championship fixtures,” chief selector and head coach Misbah-ul-Haq said. (PTI)
