KARACHI: Rohail Nazir, who scored a century on his first-class debut this season, has been appointed as Pakistan Under-19 captain for next month’s series against Sri Lanka, the Pakistan Cricket Board announced on Tuesday.

Wicket-keeper/batsman Rohail scored 130 and four for Islamabad against Habib Bank Limited in the Quaid-i-Azam Trophy in September. He played three more first-class matches in his debut season and finished with 300 runs besides dismissing 13 batsmen behind the wickets.

Rohail was Hassan Khan’s vice-captain at last year’s ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup in New Zealand where Pakistan finished third. He went on to captain Pakistan at the ACC Under-19 Asia Cup last year.

Mohammad Taha, who was also part of the U19 World Cup squad, has been appointed as vice-captain.

Faisalabad’s wrist spinner Suleman Shafqat is the other member from the World Cup squad to retain a place in the Sri Lanka touring party.

Apart from Rohail, the only other first-class cricketer in the 15-player squad is FATA paceman Abbas Afridi, who has played two matches and taken four wickets.

Pakistan will play two four-day matches against Sri Lanka in Galle and Hambantota before taking on the hosts in three 50-over matches.

Squad: Rohail Nazir (captain/wicket-keeper, Islamabad), Mohammad Taha (vice-captain, Karachi), Abbas Afridi (Fata), Akhtar Shah (Quetta), Basit Ali (Multan), Haider Ali (Rawalpindi), Khayyam Khan (wicket-keeper, Abbottabad), Mohammad Haris (Peshawar), Mohammad Junaid (Quetta), Mohammad Wasim (fata), Niaz Khan (Peshawar), Saim Ayub (Karachi), Shiraz Khan (Rawalpindi), Suleman Shafqat (Faisalabad), Qasim Akram (Lahore). Reserves: Amir Ali (Larkana), Irfan Niazi (Faisalabad), Mohammad Amir (Peshawar), Nadir Shah (Karachi), Said Nazir (Fata). Team management: Azam Khan (coach-cum-manager), Mohtashim Rasheed (assistant coach), Faheem Shah (physiotherapist), Saboor Ahmed (trainer), Usman Hashmi (analyst).

Published in Dawn, April 17th, 2019