England tour: 36-year-old bowler returns with Pakistan under-19 star Hyder, Sarfaraz

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced the 29-member squad for the tour of England. In August-September, England will play Test and T20 series in a biologically safe environment.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced the 29-member squad for the tour of England. In August-September, England will play Test and T20 series in a biologically safe environment. For the first time in the team, under-19 star Hyder Ali has been given a chance while former captain Sarfaraz Ahmed and 36-year-old fast bowler Sohail Khan have returned.

Pakistani Cricket Team
Pakistani Cricket Team

This will be Pakistan’s first attack after Coronavirus. Two key players of the team, fast bowler Mohammad Amir and middle-order batsman Haris Sohail, refused to go on this tour. Aamir is about to become the father of another child while Sohail has decided to withdraw from the tour for personal reasons. The Pakistan Cricket Board had informed about this a day before the team was elected.

Under 19-star chance

Young batsman Hyder had a brilliant performance in the Under-19 World Cup in South Africa this year. Apart from this, he has also won the hearts of the selectors by his performance in the Pakistan Super League. This player was eyed by many veterans and he is being described as the future star of Pakistan cricket. Kasif Bhatti has also been included in this team. He has not played a single match with the country’s team so far.

Sarfaraz and Sohail Khan return

Former Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed has also returned to the team for this tour. Sarfaraz has been included in the team along with Rizwan as the second wicketkeeper. He played the last international match in October 2019. He was removed from the captaincy after losing the domestic T20 series against Sri Lanka last year and has been out of the team since then.

Cricket Team from Pakistan
Cricket Team from Pakistan

36-year-old fast bowler Sohail Khan has also been included in the team. In 2017, this fast bowler played his last international match. Sohail has played 9 Tests, 13 ODIs and 5 T-20 matches so far. These matches have taken 27, 19, and 5 wickets respectively.

The 29-member teams are as follows.

Azhar Ali (captain), Babar Azam (Test vice-captain, T-20 captain), Fawad Alam, Hyder Ali, Iftikar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Abid Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Imam Ul Haq, Shaan Masood, Mohammed Rizwan.

Sarfaraz Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Harris Rauf, Imran Khan, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Hasnain, Shaheen Afridi, Sohail Khan, Usman Khan Shinwari, Wahab Riaz, Imad Wasim, Kashif Bhatti, Shadab Khan, Yasir Shah.