LAHORE: All-rounder Fawad Alam has been named captain of the 16-member Pakistan ‘A’ squad for its tour to Sri Lanka for three one-day matches and as many four-day matches, to be played from April 23 to May 24.

Fawad is also a member of the Pakistan ODI team, touring Bangladesh from April 13 to May 10, for two Tests, three One-day Internationals, and one-off T20 match.

But when the ODI series ends on April 22, Fawad will be free to join the A team as captain.

While tried and tested Umar Amin has been given a chance as deputy to Fawad Alam, top scorer of domestic cricket Naeemuddin, who plays for Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited, has again been ignored.

He had scored around 1,000 runs in the last season of the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy and accumulated 1,045 runs this season, showing consistency with the bat as an opener.

In addition to Umar, other tested players like Khurram Manzoor, is also included in both the teams.

According to a press release issued by the PCB, chief selector Haroon Rashid says: “After having detailed deliberations on the post World Cup scenario, it was decided by the selectors to formulate a long-term selection strategy to raise a back-up pool of players to compliment the senior team.

“In this perspective, tours of junior teams are of paramount importance. This tour of Sri Lanka is the first step in this direction. We would appreciate if few more tours on annual basis be arranged, enabling these upcoming players to get international exposure.

“In order to have continuity in the development of players, we have selected few players from Pakistan’s ODI and T20 squad of Bangladesh tour to accompany the Pakistan ‘A’ squad to Sri Lanka,” he said.

“This is being done keeping in mind that Pakistan team’s next tour is of Sri Lanka and these players would have the opportunity familiarise themselves with the playing conditions there prior to senior team’s tour of Sri Lanka.

“Other than the above considerations, the following were also taken into account while naming the Pakistan ‘A’ squad: performance in domestic cricket, potential to perform at international arena, keeping the future of our cricket in view and fitness standards,” Haroon said.

Meanwhile, the selectors also decided not to announce a replacement of injured Sohaib Maqsood in the Pakistan T20 team, as already announced 14-member squad is enough for the one-off match against Bangladesh.

The selectors had already included Saad Nasim in the ODI team in place of Sohaib, who had been ruled out from the tour due to arm fracture.

Squads:

Four-day squad: Shaan Masood, Khurram Manzoor, Umer Siddiq, Umar Amin (vice-captain), Ali Waqas, Usman Salahuddin, Ali Asad, Immad Wasim, Fawad Alam (captain), Zafar Gohar, Shahzeb Ahmed, Adnan Akmal (wicket-keeper), Mir Hamza, Bilwal Bhatti, Shehzad Azam, Imran Khan.

Reserves: Zia-ul-Haq, Saad Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Naeemuddin.

One-day squad: Khurram Manzoor, Umer Sadiq, Mukhtar Ahmed, Umar Amin (vice-captain), Fawad Alam (captain), Ali Waqas, Saad Nasim, Mohammad Rizwan (wicket-keeper), Israrullah, Immad Wasim, Zafar Gohar, Shahzeb Ahmed, Mir Hamza, Bilawal Bhatti, Ehsan Adil, Tabish Khan.

Itinerary:

April 26: First one-dayer at Matara

April 29: Second one-dayer at Hambantota

May 2: Third one-dayer at Colombo

May 6-9: First four-dayer at Kandy

May 13-16: Second four-dayer at Kurunegala

May 20-23: Third four-dayer at Dambulla.

Published in Dawn, April 11th, 2015

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