PCB announces Pakistan's 15-member T20 World Cup 2024 squad; drops two all-rounders, no reserves named

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on May 24 announced the 15-member squad for ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 squad. Agha Salman and Irfan Khan have been dropped from the Babar Azam-led side for the marquee event. Salman and Irfan are a part of the T20I series against England. 
 

PCB hasn’t named any reserve players for the tournament that will take place in the West Indies and the USA. Earlier, Hasan Ali was released from the T20I squad to play County cricket. 
 

Pakistan’s T20 World Cup 2024 squad

Babar Azam (c), Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan

The 15 players were selected after a tour-hour selection committee meeting which was attended by Abdul Razzaq, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Bilal Afzal, Gary Kirsten, Mohammad Yousuf and Wahab Riaz.

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PCB's statement 

“This is an extremely talented and balanced side that has a mixture of youth and experience. These players have been playing together for some time and look well prepared and settled for next month’s event.

 

“This is an extremely talented and balanced side that has a mixture of youth and experience," PCB said in its statement.

 

"These players have been playing together for some time and look well prepared and settled for next month’s event.

 

“Haris Rauf is fully fit and bowling well in the nets. It would have been nice if he had gotten an outing at Headingley, but we remain confident that he will continue to maintain an upward trajectory in the upcoming matches, as he will have an important role to play along with other strike bowlers in the T20 World Cup.”
 

Player support personnel and coaching staff 

Wahab Riaz (senior team manager), Mansoor Rana (team manager), Gary Kirsten (head coach), Azhar Mahmood (assistant coach), Simon Helmot (fielding coach), David Reid (mental performance coach), Aftab Khan (high performance coach), Cliffe Deacon (physiotherapist), Irtaza Komail (chief security officer), Mohammad Imran (masseur), Mohammad Khurram Sarwar (team doctor), Talha Ijaz (analyst), Raza Kitchlew (media and digital manager) and Drikus Saaiman (strength and conditioning coach).

 

No warm-up games for Pakistan

Pakistan will not play any warm-up games ahead of T20 World Cup as the four-T20I series against England ends on May 30. They have been placed in Group A alongside co-hosts USA, India, Canada and Ireland. They will face USA in their T20 World Cup campaign opener at Grand Prairie Cricket Stadium, Dallas on June 6.

 

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