Pakistan, on Monday (May 23), announced their squad for the upcoming rescheduled ODI series against West Indies. The entire series will take place in Rawalpindi from June 8 to 12. The Pakistan Cricket Board has also kept Multan as a backup venue.

The hosts have pruned their squad to 16 from the 21 named for the Australia series given the upcoming games will not be played in a Managed Event Environment. The players who have been left out of the squad are Asif Afridi, Asif Ali, Haider Ali and Usman Qadir. Saud Shakeel was not considered as he is scheduled to undergo a surgery for sinusitis.

Leg-spinner Shadab Khan has returned to the squad after missing the series against Australia due to an injury. Babar Azam will lead the side while Shadab has returned to the teams as the former’s deputy.

“As the ODIs against the West Indies are part of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 qualification, we have decided to give best chance to our side to collect maximum points and strengthen our chances of progressing directly for the pinnacle 50-over tournament. We have retained the same core of players so they further establish themselves in the format. I hope this bunch will continue the form they gained from the Australia series,” chief selector Muhammad Wasim said.

The Pakistan squad will assemble in Rawalpindi on 1 June for a training camp. The likes of Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Rizwan and Shadab Khan, who are currently busy playing in the English County Championship, will join the squad in the first week of June.

The series was to take place last year when West Indies visited Pakistan for three T20Is and as many ODIs. Both the teams managed to complete the T20I series before a series of Covid-19 cases in the West Indies’ camp led to the cancellation of the ODI series. Before the cancellation, Pakistan had whitewashed the West Indies in the T20Is.

Pakistan squad for West Indies ODIs:

Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imam-ul-Haq, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wicketkeeper/batter), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper/batter), Mohammad Wasim Junior, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shahnawaz Dahani and Zahid Mahmood.