LAHORE: The national selectors on Monday sprang a major surprise when they named pacer Wahab Riaz in the 15-member World Cup squad besides picking fast bowler Mohammad Amir and Asif Ali, and dropped Junaid Khan, Abid Ali and Faheem Ashraf.

Leg-spinner Shadab Khan also made the cut in place of an out-of-form Yasir Shah.

The 33-year-old Wahab, who played his last One-day International almost two years ago at the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy, has taken 102 wickets in 79 ODIs so far at a modest average of 34.34. Interestingly, the left-armer holds a much better record in World Cups. In 12 matches of the 2011 and 2015 World Cups, Wahab claimed 24 scalps at an impressive 21.91. The bowler possesses some extra pace but has not been able to come up to the expectations at international contests in general. And on a number of occasions in recent years the burly pacer has proved very costly for Pakistan at crucial junctures.

Chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq, who announced the squad at a press conference in Lahore, faced a barrage of questions on the inclusion of Wahab who had never been on his radar for the last two years, particularly for ODIs.

While defending recalling Wahab, Inzamam admitted that in the first attempt the think-tank had failed to assess the actual playing conditions in England.

“A person like me never expected such kind of pitches and playing conditions in England when we selected the team for the five-match ODI series against England and the squad for the World Cup,” Inzamam said at the presser.

Mohammad Amir, Asif Ali also picked for mega event

“Instead of making it [team selection for World Cup] an ego problem I decided to make changes [to the squad], focusing on what the team really wants after the England ODIs. Our pace attack lacked in experience during the England series. Therefore, with the addition of Wahab and Amir, it now looks effective,” the 119-Test veteran added.

“After noting that the bat is likely to dominate the ball in the World Cup, we revisited our strategy and reverted to the pace of Amir and Wahab as it adds good experience to the pace attack which also contains talented youngsters Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammad Hasnain.

“More batting-friendly conditions are expected in England during the World Cup, so we need experienced bowlers who could use old ball effectively besides having control over reverse swing and Wahab is quite capable of doing this,” the former Pakistan captain stated.

On Amir, Inzamam said he had also a good experience of playing under English conditions.

“Yes we could not see him properly in the [recently-concluded ODI series] against England due to chickenpox but he is a senior bowler having good experience in England where his economy rate has also been remarkable,” he said.

The 27-year-old Amir, who was not part of the preliminary World Cup squad due to his very ordinary bowling performance in limited-overs games during the last two years, suffered from chickenpox during the England ODI series and was therefore sidelined. However, now the PCB claims the left-arm bowler is fit and will start practice with the national team.

Inzamam tried to justify the decision of picking Asif and axing top-order batsman Abid who was given just one chance during the England ODI series, in Leeds.

“Though it was not an easy decision to exclude Abid as opener but the way Asif batted [in the England series] we need him at number six or seven to accelerate run-rate. As extra openers are available in Mohammad Hafeez and Haris Sohail, Abid was dropped,” Inzamam said.

Right-handed Asif, who was named in the squad for the England series, strengthened his World Cup case by striking two rapid half-centuries in the series.

When asked if under-performing Hafeez or Shoaib Malik could not be dropped to retain Abid in the team, Inzamam said the duo were picked due to their experience.

“Both Malik and Hafeez have been with the team for the last two years and they are experienced, having the skill to play match-winning role so we need them,” he said.

The 37-year-old Malik and Hafeez, 38, will certainly need to raise their game to set examples for their juniors in cut-throat World Cup matches.

About Shadab, the chief selector said he was the automatic choice to replace out-of-form Yasir. Shadab recovered from virus he suffered soon after his selection in the World Cup squad and for the series against England last month.

After making his ODI debut against West Indies in Providence more than two years ago, the 20-year-old Shadab has claimed 47 wickets in 34 ODIs at a striking average of 27.74. As lower-order batsman, the player has also accumulated 294 runs at 29.40 with the help of three half-centuries.

“It is a good news for Pakistan team that Shadab is now available making our spin attack more effective,” he said.

Denying that the selectors had pushed the panic button which forced several changes to the national squad, Inzamam insisted the changes were made based on the team’s requirements. “I consulted the captain [Sarfraz Ahmed] and the head coach [Mickey Arthur] before taking these decisions,” the chief selector said.

Though Inzamam avoided predicting Pakistan’s victory in the World Cup, he said the team was quite capable of doing wonders and said every Pakistani should support the team as it was their own team.

“Our support will encourage the players to give their best in the World Cup and unnecessary criticism is not good for the team spirit,” said the chief selector.

“Yes, we are going to compete in the World Cup with ten successive ODI losses. However, there are some positives too; our players tried well in the [recent] ODI series against Australia [in UAE] as well as England. Our batsmen for the first time fought hard while chasing totals of 300-plus,” he said.

Inzamam reiterated that upcoming right-arm pacer Mohammad Hasnain despite lack of experience could add inspiration to Pakistan’s pace bowling attack.

The chief selector agreed with the notion that Sarfraz should bat up the order instead of coming in at sixth or seventh position, saying he was a perfect batsman.

Squad:

Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq (openers); Asif Ali, Babar Azam, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Hafeez, Sarfraz Ahmed (captain, wicket-keeper), Shoaib Malik (middle-order batsmen); Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan (spinners); Hasan Ali, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Hasnain, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Wahab Riaz (fast bowlers)

Schedule of Pakistan’s matches at World Cup.

Warm-up matches:

May 24: Warm-up vs Afghanistan, Bristol

May 26: Warm-up vs Bangladesh, Cardiff

World Cup:

May 31: Pakistan vs West Indies, Nottingham

June 3: Pakistan vs England, Nottingham

June 7: Pakistan vs Sri Lanka, Bristol

June 12: Pakistan vs Australia, Taunton

June 16: Pakistan vs India, Manchester

June 23: Pakistan vs South Africa, London (Lord’s)

June 26: Pakistan vs New Zealand, Birmingham

June 29: Pakistan vs Afghanistan, Leeds

July 5: Pakistan vs Bangladesh, London (Lord’s, d/n).

Published in Dawn, May 21st, 2019