Grant Bradburn: “He can make a comeback in the national squad”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Grant Bradburn, the Pakistan head coach, has made it clear that there is nothing stopping senior opening batsman Abid Ali from making a comeback to the national team.
Abid was Pakistan’s go-to opener in Test cricket until he had to take some time away from the game when he was diagnosed with Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) after complaining of chest pains while batting during Central Punjab’s Quaid-e-Azam Trophy match against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in December 2021.
The 35-year-old underwent two angioplasty surgeries and has yet to make his international return.
Despite his last Test match coming in December 2021, Bradburn reiterated that the Lahore-born batsman is still very much in contention if he scores runs in domestic cricket.
“He can make a comeback in the national squad,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Pakistan recently beat Sri Lanka 2-0 in a Test series and Afghanistan 3-0 in an ODI series.
They are now playing in the Asia Cup, where they kicked off their campaign with an impressive 238-run win over Nepal.
In their clash against India, both sides had to settle for one point each as they game was abandoned due to rain after India scored 266 in their innings.
Despite this happening, Pakistan advanced to the Super Fours and continued their good run of form as they registered a clinical seven-wicket win over Bangladesh.
They will take on India once again on September 10 in Colombo.
Pakistan Squad for 2023 Asia Cup:Â Babar Azam (capt), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Saud Shakeel, Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Haris (wk), Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr.
Travelling reserve: Tayyab Tahir