Pakistan power-hitter Sohaib Maqsood: “I’d taken a break from red-ball cricket for a year and worked on my skills”
Image courtesy of: Pakistan Super League
Pakistan big-hitter Sohaib Maqsood said he took a break from red-ball cricket for a year to work on his skills.
His efforts to better his game have paid off as he was one of the top performers in the recently-concluded edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL).
Maqsood scored 428 runs in 12 games for the Multan Sultans, which included five half-centuries, at an average of 47.55 and a strike-rate of 156.77.
Thanks to his consistent performances, the Sultans won their first-ever title.
Maqsood, who last played international cricket in January 2016, is also set to make his comeback soon as he replaced Haider Ali in Pakistan’s ODI and T20 squads for the tours of England and the West Indies.
Haider was withdrawn from the national team after he and fellow Peshawar Zalmi player Umaid Asif breached the PSL’s Health and Safety Protocols by meeting with people outside the bio-secure bubble.
“I’d taken a break from red-ball cricket for a year and worked on my skills. I was given responsibility as well, that helped. But it mostly came down to my form,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Pakistan will play three ODIs and three T20 Internationals against England. The ODI series will begin on July 8 and conclude on July 13, while the T20 series will be held from July 16 to 20.
The tour of the West Indies will consist of five T20 Internationals and two Tests, with the T20 series getting underway on July 27 and ending on August 3.
As for the Test series, it will start on August 12 and conclude on August 24.
Pakistan Test Squad: Babar Azam (captain), Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper) (vice-captain), Abdullah Shafique, Abid Ali, Azhar Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Fawad Alam, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Imran Butt, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Nauman Ali, Sajid Khan, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shahnawaz Dhani, Yasir Shah (subject to fitness) and Zahid Mahmood
Pakistan ODI Squad: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Abdullah Shafique, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Sohaib Maqsood, Haris Rauf, Haris Sohail, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Agha Salman, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Usman Qadir
Pakistan T20 Squad: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Arshad Iqbal, Azam Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Sohaib Maqsood, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sharjeel Khan and Usman Qadir