Misbah-ul-Haq: “Potentially the names I’m seeing are simple. Agha Salman is there, Azam Khan is there, Iftikhar Ahmed is there, and Shadab Khan is there”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan head coach and chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq believes Salman Ali Agha, Azam Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed and Shadab Khan will be selected as part of the middle order for the 2024 T20 World Cup in June.
Iftikhar and Shadab are regular faces in the T20I squad, but Salman has yet to make his debut in the shortest format.
As for Azam, who is the son of ex-Pakistan skipper Moin Khan, he has not made the most of the opportunities given to him in T20I cricket, having scored 29 runs in eight matches at an average of 4.83 and a strike-rate of 90.62.
Nonetheless, Misbah feels that those four players are the best options Pakistan have for the T20 World Cup, which will be held in the West Indies and United States of America from June 1 to 29.
“Potentially the names I’m seeing are simple. Agha Salman is there, Azam Khan is there, Iftikhar Ahmed is there, and Shadab Khan is there,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Shadab recently captained Islamabad United to victory in the 2024 Pakistan Super League (PSL), while Salman and Azam also played for the franchise.
Iftikhar, meanwhile, represented the Multan Sultans, who Islamabad beat in the final by two wickets.
Islamabad United Squad for PSL 9: Shadab Khan (captain), Naseem Shah, Jordan Cox, Imad Wasim, Azam Khan, Tymal Mills, Faheem Ashraf, Alex Hales, Colin Munro, Rumman Raees, Matthew Forde, Salman Ali Agha, Qasim Akram, Shahab Khan, Hunain Shah, Ubaid Shah, Shamyl Hussain, Obed McCoy, Haider Ali, Muhammad Waseem
Multan Sultans Squad for PSL 9: Mohammad Rizwan (captain), Iftikhar Ahmed, David Willey, Khushdil Shah, Usama Mir, Dawid Malan, Abbas Afridi, Reeza Hendricks, Tayyab Tahir, Shahnawaz Dahani, Usman Khan, Mohammad Ali, Faisal Akram, Yasir Khan, Chris Jordan, Aftab Ibrahim, Johnson Charles, Mohammad Shehzad
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