Pakistan's star bowler returns to T20I squad ahead of series against Ireland and England

Pakistan announced their T20I squad for the upcoming series against Ireland and England before the ICC T20 World Cup 2024. The only good news for the fans is the return of the star bowler, Haris Rauf who was out of the series against the Kiwis due to a shoulder injury. Rauf was injured during the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2024 due to which he had to miss the 5-match T20I series against New Zealand. 

Apart from Rauf, most of the players have retained their spot in the team except for Usama Mir and Zaman Khan. Pakistan team suffered quite a lot due to the injuries of Azam Khan and wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan who are out of the squad. While Khan was out of the T20I series against the black caps due to discomfort in his right leg during the build-up, Rizwan was forced out of the last two matches following a hamstring injury sustained in the third game. 

Pakistan squad: Babar Azam (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Rizwan, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan.

'No one is a born captain...' - Selector Razzaq defends skipper Babar Azam

The selectors have come in favour of skipper Babar Azam after the series against the Kiwis ended in a draw, 2-2. The team did a fantastic job in winning the two matches against the Black Caps as they were in solid form. Moreover, Babar Azam's improvement in the captaincy was also clearly visible with the bowling changes he made during the matches. 

"No one is a born captain but from what we saw in the NZ series there was improvement in his leadership and we are hopeful he will become better and he has captaincy experience. We want to remain on the same page with him," said Razzaq as quoted by IndiaToday.