ENG vs PAK | Naseem Shah earns debut call, Mohammad Amir returns for the T20Is against England

Naseem Shah, who made his Test debut at the age of 16 Down Under has been named in the 17-member squad for Pakistan’s three-match T20I series against England, starting August 28. Besides the youngster, the 19-year-old Haider Ali too has been named in the squad, after his performance in the Pakistan Super League, where he has scored 238 runs, at an average of 29.75. 

Meanwhile, Babar Azam will continue to lead the side, after being named as the limited-overs skipper across both the formats earlier in the year. Former skipper and wicketkeeper-batsman Sarfaraz Ahmed too has been picked. From the bowling front, experienced pacer Mohammad Amir returns to the setup alongside Wahab Riaz. All-rounder Shoaib Malik, who arrived in England on August 12, has also been named in the squad and would be joining his teammates after clearing the COVID-19 tests. 

“This is mostly the same team which has been featuring in the shortest format for us. Besides retaining the core, we have inducted youngsters like Haider Ali ... and Naseem Shah as we had an opportunity to keep a bigger pool due to Covid-19 pandemic,” Pakistan head coach Misbah-ul-Haq said in PCB media release as quoted by Times of India.

Mishab believed that the long duration of the tour has helped them in the development of young players and they would benefit from the experience they have been getting here.

“Usually, the T20I team comes together for a brief period but due to the current situation most of the players have been here with us for more than a month and it has provided us a good opportunity to work on the development of the team and the young players.”

The three T20Is have been scheduled to be held on August 28, 30, and September 1 in Manchester.

Pakistan squad for England T20Is: Babar Azam (captain), Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Amir, Naseem Shah, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shoaib Malik and Wahab Riaz.