World T20 squads can still be changed, says ICC official

Abdul Ghaffar Published February 13, 2016

KARACHI: Teams participating in the Super 10 of the upcoming World T20 can still make changes in their squads without requiring an approval from the International Cricket Council (ICC), an official informed DawnNews on Saturday.

The game’s governing body set February 8 as the initial deadline to submit the World T20 squads, while Pakistan was granted a two-day extension on Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) request.

According to an ICC official there is almost a month’s time left for the member nations to tinker with their team’s combinations.

“All teams taking part in the second round of the World T20 can make changes to their squads until March 8,” said the official.

“These changes don’t require ICC approval and can be made for any reason – technical or medical,” he added.

The World T20, set to be held in India, kicks off on March 8 with a qualifying round for the associate teams, while the Super 10 round commences from March 16.

The official added that any changes proposed after March 8 will be allowed solely for medical reasons and will also need an approval from the ICC.

Opener Ahmed Shehzad and fast bowler Umar Gul were dropped, while Khurram Manzoor, Rumman Raees and Mohammad Nawaz were included as Pakistan named its 15-man squad after a lengthy meeting which split the selection committee on Wednesday.

According to sources, Manzoor, Raees and Iftikhar Ahmed — who has been with a squad since November 2015, will be assessed during the on-going Pakistan Super League (PSL) and Asia Cup T20 which commences February 29 and there can be potential changes in the squad if the trio fails to impress before the World T20.

Pakistan Chief Selector Haroon Rasheed confirmed the rule to Dawn, but shrugged off any possibility of changes in the national side before the tournament.

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Lafanga

Feb 13, 2016 10:44pm

At last we are playing in India. It is confirmed now. Thank god , now we can watch Pakistan versus India match. All the best Afridi team.

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The Outsider

Feb 13, 2016 10:49pm

Not a fan of Shezad but recently he has been playing well. I think his problem is he can't handle pressure. Whenever he feels his spot is in jeopardy he plays defensive, is hesitant and not fluent. In PSL he has be aggressive, confident, rotating, making good shot selection and in form. Anyways I don't see how Manzoor is the solution when he has proven nothing.

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Kam

Feb 13, 2016 11:46pm

Ifthikar has been terrible since his international debut, failing to score runs at any level since then. This selection boggled my mind while talents like Sami Aslam, Fawad Alam, Haris Sohail (the latter two seem to have been blacklisted by the PCB) waste away. Bowling wise, Irfan has lost a lot of pace and bounce and is no longer the fierce bowler he once was. Meanwhile, Junaid Khan remains out of the team even though he has performed well in recent months.

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Parvez

Feb 14, 2016 12:04am

Of course useless Ahmed Shehzad just HAS to be accommodated .

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PEERZADA SHAKIR AHMAD

Feb 14, 2016 12:07am

that is actually a great news . I strongly believe Iftikhar ahmad is not worth slection .... i feel pakiatan missed out by leaving out Mohammad Rizwan.. now it seems opportunity for pak to pull out iftikhar and get in rizwan.... and also i still believe SHEHZAD or SAMI ASLAM shall have make it in place of khurram...... i don't even remember his name .. come on selectors shehzad can blast he is getting his form back.

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fahd

Feb 14, 2016 12:43am

manzoor ,iftikhar, rouman should be dropped. shehzad should be in ( as there is no other opener performing in PSL). junaid khan should be included. pak could not find any batsman for the world t20 in the psl

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Afridi

Feb 14, 2016 01:03am

Drop Shahid Afridi. Look at his performance in the ongoing PSL, very very unimpressive. The only reason he is selected is because he is Shahid Afridi. He performs once in 10 matches only. His spot in the team for an allrounder can easily be filled now with Mohd. Nawaz. Sarfaraz should be the T20 captain. Rumman Raees and Iftikhar are also not impressing that much. Azher Ali is an extremely selfish person. To secure his spot as an opener he is keeping the talented Ahmed Mukhtar out of the playing 11 in the Lahore side during the ongoing PSL.

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Feb 14, 2016 01:15am

Get Rumman Raees out! What is special about his bowling ? The whole PSL campaign, he came across as average and could not deliver any match winning performance or deliver breakthrough to Islamabad. I am not saying he is not a good cricketer, but he definitely is not ready for international team yet. I would have preferred Rizwan or Khurram and Aizaz Cheema or Umar Gul over Rumman. Unbelievable decision this one was..

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Philosopher (from Japan)

Feb 14, 2016 01:46am

Please take Khurram manzoor out.

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Mamta Santh

Feb 14, 2016 02:53am

I think M. Nawaz, R. Raees and K. Manzoor are bad choices. They should be replaced with more accomplished players. Love from Lucknow and best of luck in India!

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Capt C M Khan

Feb 14, 2016 03:18am

ICC knows boards like PCB.......Let them see how their new selections perform in the Asia Cup...they will surely replace them with other average players......that is how the musical Chair works in PCB. Not one Batting talent discovered in PSL. Sad.

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Feb 14, 2016 04:37am

Rumman is not even in top 20 bowlers of PSL, nor has he had any winning impact on Islamabads performance. I dont get what selectors criteria is - but merit definitely does not seem to be one.

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shah nawaz

Feb 14, 2016 08:19am

YOUR COMMENTi think it id blessing in disguis as pak can open with sarfaraz and now have a settled look with good depth in batting and bowling dept atleast on paper which can b hafeez sarfaraz umar akmal babar azam shoiab nawaz imad sahid riyaz amir and irfan

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Shahid

Feb 14, 2016 08:52am

Iftekhar and Raees are both unjustified selections. Ahmad Shehzad has enough experience to have stayed in the squad while Asghar surely deserved a place. So if it was up to me, I will replace Iftekhar with Rizwan, Raees with Asghar and Khurram with Ahmad Shehzad.

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Sherry

Feb 14, 2016 09:55am

Good opportunity to get rid of Iftikhar,and Manzoor and Grumman. The possible choices could be Rizwan,Junaid Khan and any performing opener from PSL.

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A Peshawary

Feb 14, 2016 10:12am

Poor Rizwan; nobody is talking about you? His performance has not been so bad in the matches he played for Pakistan. A Peshawary

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M.M.Sherazi

Feb 14, 2016 11:06am

Well, this type of News has always the upper hand to put more weight in selectors bags.

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Rabbani

Feb 14, 2016 11:58am

@Afridi But he is leading the team well. Look at team of Azhar Ali & Meshbah.. horrible .

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effy

Feb 14, 2016 02:25pm

Drop Afridi, Anwar Ali, Khurram Manzoor. Select Fakhar Zaman, Kamran Ghulam and Sadaf Hussain.

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Fawad

Feb 15, 2016 10:23pm

The best fielder in Pakistan (Rizwan) is dropped when Pakistan often loses because of poor fielding. Junaid is bowling better than most, he got Gayle out 2 times in 2 outings but cannot find a place in this team. Ahmed Shahzad is performing in PSL, yet has been left out. Strange selections yet again!

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