Battling concerns over the form and fitness of some of their players, the Pakistan selection committee headed by Inzamam-ul-Haq has decided to announce the World Cup squad on Thursday with two reserves.
The selection committee has decided to utilise thefive-match one-day series against England and some side matches as thebarometer for making changes in the 15-member World Cup squad, if required, bythe deadline of 23rd May.
“The selectors after consulting head coach, Mickey Arthurhave more or less decided on the 15-member World Cup squad and two reserves whowill be on the flight to England for the World Cup and before that play at theone-day series against England and some side matches,” said a source close tothe selectors on Wednesday.
“The concerns are over the fitness of left arm spinallrounder, Emad Wasim, the present form of experienced left arm pacer,Muhammad Aamir and a debate on who will be the reserve opener in the World Cup.
“There has been debate on who will be the third opener inthe squad with Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq. The toss is up between Abid Aliand Haris Sohail,” the source said.
He said though Abid has not cleared the fitness test thisweek, his present form still kept him in the run.
The other option under consideration is to select theleft-handed Haris Sohail as reserve opener as this would allow the selectorsand team management to consider hard-hitting Asif Ali in the batting, thesource said.
“The selectors also believe that with Muhammad Hafeez alsoavailable he can also be used as a opener if the need arises,” the source said.
Experienced allrounder Hafeez is recovering from a thumboperation but passed the fitness test comfortably in Lahore the other day.
The source said Emad would be picked in the squad with theother left-arm spin allrounder Muhammad Nawaz among the reserves so that ifEmad is unable to be 100 percent fit before the World Cup he can be replaced.
Muhammad Aamir managed to snap just five wickets in his last14 ODIs and the source said selectors and team management have somereservations over the form of the experienced pacer.
“He will be in the World Cup squad but if he fails toimprove his bowling form against England in the series and side matches, theteam management has the option of replacing him with young fast bowler,Muhammad Hasnain by the deadline of 23rd May,” he said.
“Fakhar, Imam, Haris, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Muhammad Hafeez, Muhammad Rizwan, Sarfaraz Ahmed (Capt), Shadab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Junaid Khan, Emad Wasim, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Muhammad Aamir are certain selections while for the one slot the toss up is between Abid Ali and hard-hitting middle order batsman, Asif Ali.