Shehzad not in preliminary Pakistan squad

Cricket365
May 28, 2016

Opening batsman, Ahmed Shehzad has not been included in Pakistan's 22-man probables list for the July/August tour of England.

It is believed that the 24-year-old, who had also not been picked for a boot camp at the Pakistan Military Academy, misses out as a result of an ongoing disciplinary issue.

His exclusion is a big blow to the touring team's prospects, as the player is exhibiting exceptional form in the 50-over Pakistan Cup. In five innings Shehzad has scored 372 runs, the most in the tournament, at an average of 74.4 and srike-rate over 100. His tally includes one century and three 50s.

The 22-man preliminary group are currently attending a skills camp and 16-man touring squad will be selected at its conclusion on 6 June.

Mohammad Hafeez and Yasir Shah both miss out on the camp due to knee injuries, but have still been included in the list. The extent of Hafeez's injury and whether he will play a part in the series will soon be known, and Shah is expected to return to full fitness in a week.

The squad includes two debutants in Asif Zakir and Akbar-ur-Rehman. Both have performed well in the Pakistan first-class tourmanent, both scoring over 700 runs at respective averages of 56.50 and 58.53.

In the middle order, Ifthikar Ahmed was preferred over Fawad Alam due to him being an additional bowling option.

Convenor of selectors, Inzamam-ul-Haq, referred to the lack of genuine allrounder when justifying the selection of Ifthikar Ahmed over Fawad Alam in the middle order.

The 22-player squad consists of:

Openers: Mohammad Hafeez (subject to fitness), Sami Aslam, Shan Masood, Khurram Manzoor
Middle-order batsmen: Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Misbah ul Haq, Asad Shafiq, Iftikhar Ahmed, Asif Zakir, Akbar-ur-Rehman
Seamers: Mohammad Amir, Rahat Ali, Imran Khan, Sohail Khan, Junaid Khan, Ehsan Adil, Wahab Riaz
Spinners: Yasir Shah (subject to fitness), Zulfiqar Babar
Wicketkeepers: Sarfraz Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan