Fit-again Haris Rauf named in Pakistan T20 World Cup squad, Babar Azam to lead

Dubai/Karachi: Having recovered from an injury, experienced pacer Haris Rauf was on Friday named in Pakistan's 15-member squad, which will be led by star batter Babar Azam during next month's ICC T20 World Cup to be held in the Americas from June 2.

Rauf, who had suffered a shoulder dislocation during the Pakistan Super League (PSL) in February, last featured for his country in January this year and his return will provide a big boost to the runners-up in the previous edition of the tournament in 2022.

“Haris Rauf is fully fit and bowling well in the nets," the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said in a statement.

"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," said the PCB.

Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Saim Ayub and Usman Khan will make their maiden appearance in a T20 World Cup, but pacer Hasan Ali was the prominent absentee as he has been released to include Rauf.

"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," the PCB said.

It has also been decided that for initial matches, Saim Ayub will open with Muhammad Rizwan with Babar coming in at one down but this could change if required in later matches.

Pakistan also have not named any reserves for the tournament. They are currently playing a bilateral series against England in preparation for the mega event.

Pakistan are placed in Group A with India, Ireland, Canada and co-hosts USA.

They play their first game against USA on June 6 in Dallas.

Pakistan squad: Babar Azam (captain), 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.

Player support personnel: 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).