Lahore: In order to strengthen their bowling attack, Pakistan have included left-arm pacers Wahab Riaz and Mohammad Amir in the final 15-member squad for the upcoming World Cup slated to be held in England and Wales from May 30. From the 15-player provisional squad, which was announced on April 18, the PCB selectors have replaced Abid Ali and Junaid Khan with Asif Ali and Amir respectively (both were named as additional players) while Riaz has been recalled to replace Faheem Ashraf, according to a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) statement. Yasir Shah is the fourth player to be released from the side after he was named as Shadab Khan’s replacement for the series against England which Pakistan lost 0-4 on Sunday.
Wahab has taken 102 wickets in 79 ODIs, including 24 wickets in 12 World Cup matches in 2011 and 2015, while Amir has picked up 60 wickets in 51 matches, including five wickets in Pakistan’s successful ICC Champions Trophy 2017 campaign. Amir — who is presently in London after recovering from chicken pox — and Wahab, are expected to join the squad in Bristol on Wednesday. Both players will be available for selection for the two warm-up matches before Pakistan launches their World Cup campaign against the Windies on May 31 at Trent Bridge. Wahab’s last ODI was in the Champions Trophy 2017 against India in Birmingham, while he last represented Pakistan in the Dubai Test against Australia in October 2018.
Explaining the decision to recall Wahab, Chairman of the Pakistan selection committee, Inzamam-ul-Haq said, “The lack of potency of our frontline bowlers in the recent ODI series against England meant that a change was needed. In addition, we now know that we will encounter batting wickets throughout the World Cup campaign.” “The bowling unit during the England ODIs has not clicked as anticipated or expected; if we have at our disposal the vastly experienced pace duo of Amir and Wahab then it will be foolish not to include them,” Inzamam added.