Monday, December 8, 2014

Ajmal included in Pakistan's 30 man preliminary squad for the Cricket World Cup

After India, Pakistan have announced their 30 man preliminary squad that will soon be trimmed to the final 15. The talismanic off spinner Saeed Ajmal was included in the list but he will be included in the final 15 only if can clear his bowling action, the date for which has yet been given by the PCB.

The 30 man preliminary Pakistan Squad is as under:

Batsmen

Mohammad Hafeez, Ahmed Shehzad, Nasir Jamshed, Sharjeel Khan, Sami Aslam, Misbah-ul-Haq, Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali, Sohaib Maqsood, Fawad Alam, Haris Sohail, Umar Akmal

Fast Bowlers

Mohammad Irfan, Wahab Riaz, Junaid Khan, Umar Gul, Ehsan Adil, Mohammad Talha, Anwar Ali, Sohail Tanvir, Bilawal Bhatti

Spinners

Saeed Ajmal, Zulfiqar Babar, Raza Hasan, Yasir Shah, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi

Wicketkeepers

Sarfraz Ahmed, Kamran Akmal

This is a pretty strong squad provided that all their fast bowlers are fit as Junaid, Irfan and Gul have been suffering from injuries lately. Also if Ajmal is cleared then Pakistan will be ready to mount a serious challenge in Australia-New Zealand on the other teams. With Sarfaraz in fine form this year the wicketkeeping woes that plagued the team for so many years will also be looked into. In any case Umer Akmal can be a stand by for Sarfaraz in case of any injury so there seems to be no real need to pick up Kamran!! The spinner Yasir Shah impressed me during the recent test series against New Zealand and Shahid Afridi is always there as a spinner.

Let us see what the final 15 will look like, mine would be something like this:

Batsmen

Mohammad Hafeez, Ahmed Shehzad, Nasir Jamshed, Umar Akmal, Misbah-ul-Haq, Younis Khan

Fast Bowlers

Mohammad Irfan, Wahab Riaz, Junaid Khan, Umar Gul, Bilawal Bhatti

Spinners

Saeed Ajmal/ Yasir Shah, Raza Hasan, Shahid Afridi

Wicketkeepers

Sarfraz Ahmed

What do you think of the selections? Who would make the final 15 in your opinion? Have your say!

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