Pakistan’s Squad for ICC Champions Trophy 2025 Uncertain
APP
Lahore: Pakistan white-ball captain Mohammad Rizwan has said that Pakistan may and may not revise the 15-men squad submitted to the cricket’s governing body for the ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 (CT 25) as the rules allow the change.
Defending the squad for the CT 25 during a pre-match press conference at the Gaddafi stadium here on Friday, Mohammad Rizwan said a balanced squad has been announced and he found no reason to change the already announced squad.
He further said that the team has yet one match in the tri-nation series before the expiry of the deadline to submit a change.
The white-ball captain further said that the squad was picked keeping in view the weather and pitch conditions at this time of the year, adding that inclusion of one specialist spinner was due to the expected dew factor.
He said the eleven for the match is picked as per the demand of the pitch and not the prowess of the fast-bowling attack or the spin-bowling strength of a team.
He said the revamped Gaddafi stadium will pose a challenge in team selection as well as nothing can be predicted about the pitch condition as the match will be played here after a long time (the Pakistan and New Zealand fixture will be the first international match at the ground in 18 months). He said this is a new stadium and it is yet to be known how air and weather conditions affect the pitch.
On Faheem Ashraf, he said, Faheem’s performance in the List A over the past years has been excellent and he was preferred to other fast-bowling all-rounders. He said Asharaf maintained a batting average of 46 during the past two years.
When confronted by a journalist on the batting average of Faheem Ashraf, he said the statistics were provided by team analyst Hassan Cheema.
He further said Khushdil Shah was picked for his effective left-arm orthodox bowling and excellent form with the bat, adding, the all-rounder did really well in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) recently. Rizwan also mentioned Khushdil’s excellent performance in the domestic events last year.
On Saim Ayub, he said Saim Ayub is a complete package who would perform in all departments, be it bowling, batting or fielding. Adding that his absence has ‘disturbed’ team plans but the team will rise to the occasion.
On Fakhar Zaman, the captain said that the explosive opening batsman suffered from hyper thyroid condition and he was himself unaware of his condition. He said Fakhar Zaman overcame the illness and is fit now.
