Tamim Iqbal, Rubel Hossain included in Bangladesh squad for Pakistan T20Is
Bangladesh on Saturday announced the squad for the three-match T20I series in Pakistan beginning January 24.
Opener Tamim Iqbal, who hasn't played international cricket since last year's World Cup, has returned to the T20I side. The left-handed batsman was alleged to return for the India tour in October but pulled out thanks to personal reasons.
Meanwhile, 20-year-old pacer Hasan Mahmud has earned his maiden call-up with Rubel Hossain also making a comeback for the primary leg of the three-part tour of Pakistan.
Bangladesh is set to play three T20Is, two Tests and an ODI in Pakistan between January and April. The T20I series is going to be played from January 24-27, followed by the primary Test from February 7 to 11.
Bangladesh will then return to Pakistan in April for the one-off ODI which can be played on April 3 and therefore the second Test from April 5-9. Pakistan has also recalled the experienced duo of Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik, alongside pacer Shaheen Afridi for the T20I series.
Squads: Bangladesh: Mahmudullah (Captain), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Naim Sheikh, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Liton Kumer Das, MD Mithun, Afif Hossain Dhrubo, Mahedi Hasan, Aminul Islam Biplob, Mustafizur Rahman, Shafiul Islam, Al-Amin Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Hasan Mahmud
Pakistan: Babar Azam (captain), Ahsan Ali, Amad Butt, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Musa Khan, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Usman Qadir
The experienced pair of Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez will return to the Pakistan side for the T20I series against Bangladesh next week. Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz are overlooked, with pace bowler Muhammad Musa keeping his place within the shortest format, while batsman Ahsan Ali and fast bowler Amad Butt were called up.
For the second T20I squad in succession, head coach Misbah-ul-Haq rung within the changes as Pakistan look to interrupt a streak of seven T20Is without a win. Pacer Shaheen Afridi returns to the side for the primary time since May, having sat out the T20s against Sri Lanka and Australia as he recovered from about of dengue, while Usman Qadir keeps his place and should finally be in line for his debut. Haris Rauf has also been called up after his impressive season within the Big Bash League with the Melbourne Stars.
Squad: Babar Azam (capt), Ahsan Ali, Amad Butt, Iftikhar Ahmed Haris Rauf, Imad Wasim, Khushdil Shah Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Musa, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Usman Qadir
"He[Hafeez] is experienced enough and has performed well in past," said Misbah when asked about the merits of his selection. "At the time when he and Malik were ruled out, we never said that they're going to never be considered again. Obviously, we were trying out our pool, but we found they were missed. So albeit Hafeez hasn't played much cricket lately, he's experienced and mature enough to contribute to Pakistan."
Hafeez was suspended from bowling in ECB competitions just last week after umpires reported him following a match at Taunton in August, and independent testing revealed he was breaching the 15-degree limit. Hafeez pledged to contest the findings, but as things presently stand, Pakistan won't have his services as a bowler available to them.
In the last 12 months, Pakistan has lost 8 out of 9 completed T20s they need to be played, and a side that was until recently ranked comfortably at the highest of the T20I rankings has begun to disintegrate. They still hold the amount one ranking, but that's more by dint of their remarkable record within the time before this recent string of poor results. Misbah said they needed to still experiment until they found a mixture that worked for Pakistan.
"We have lost two series earlier and it had been important for us to think hard about how we will return to winning ways," said Misbah. "Most of our decisions were taken considering the very fact that we've been losing and need to start winning again. So we have got our experienced players back and picked our domestic performers. We wanted to stick with Khushdil Shah and Usman Qadir and picked Harris Rauf on his performance within the national T20 Cup and therefore the Big Bash.
"We have tried a mixture of senior and young players which enable us to retain our winning momentum. Until the planet T20, most are in consideration. Yes, things have been alarming after we lost against Sri Lanka than in Australia. But we are getting to keep experimenting until we do not get to our greatest combination. The results I do know weren't up to our expectations but we do not get to be frightened."Another surprise was the axing of Mohammad Amir, who has taken more wickets in T20I cricket than the other Pakistan bowler since the beginning of January 2018. He quit Test cricket to specialize in white-ball cricket, and there was dismay at the PCB when that happened, who, among other things, demoted his category A contract to at least one in category C, rock bottom category. On dropping him, Misbah, who had himself expressed unhappiness with players picking and selecting what formats they wanted to play in, said, "We tried to be according to young players. Having senior bowlers like Amir and Wahab sit out is hard. the entire idea of dropping them is to incorporate younger bowlers within the playing XI."
The three-match T20I series against Bangladesh will start on January 24, with the opposite two T20Is to be persisted January 25 and 27. All three games will happen at the Gaddafi Stadium.
Squad for T20Is:
1. Babar Azam (captain)
2. Ahsan Ali
3. Amad Butt
4. Haris Rauf
5. Iftikhar Ahmed
6. Imad Wasim
7. Khushdil Shah
8. Mohammad Hafeez
9. Mohammad Hasnain
10. Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper)
11. Musa Khan
12. Shadab Khan
13. Shaheen Shah Afridi
14. Shoaib Malik
15. Usman Qadir
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