PCB announces 16-members Pakistan squad for upcoming ODI series against West Indies

Pakistan has announced its 16-player squad for the upcoming ODI series against West Indies. Let us tell you that there will be three ODIs in this series and all these matches will be played at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium and all the matches will be played under the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Super League.

Babar Azam is leading the Pakistan team, while Shadab Khan, who could not take part in the limited overs series against Australia, is returning to the team as the vice-captain in this series. It is to be noted that the series will be played without bio bubble. Asif Afridi, Asif Ali, Haider Ali are some big names who have been dropped from the series.

Pakistan's chief selector Mohammad Wasim believes that the team they have selected for this series will perform well and will definitely qualify for the 2023 World Cup. He said, "As the ODI series against West Indies is a part of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 qualification, we have thought that in this series we will give opportunities to our top players so that we can get as many points as possible and prepare for the World Cup."

He further said that, he is sure all the players would like to maintain the form that they had during the Australia series. Along with this, Wasim also said that players such as Usman Qadir, Asif Ali and Haider Ali should definitely be there in the team for the T20 World Cup 2022. 

He further added that, they had number of players as backup for the Australia ODI series, keeping in mind the high risk of injury.

After an excellent performance from skipper Babar Azam, Pakistan won the ODI series against Australia. Azam scored 276 runs in 3 ODIs in that series at an average of 138, for which he was adjudged the Player of the Series. However, Pakistan lost the Test series and the only T20 match to Australia.

Pakistan squad for West Indies series

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