LAHORE: Pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi will be back in Pakistan’s Twenty20 International colours for the first time since March when the side takes on the West Indies in a three-match series starting July 31 in Lauderhill, Florida.
The T20Is will be followed by three one-dayers in Tarouba, with Mohammad Rizwan returning as captain and Babar Azam also featuring, both continuing to sit out of T20I contention.
Shaheen missed Pakistan’s last two T20I assignments – a home and away series each against Bangladesh – despite displaying exceptional form to finish as the top wicket-taker in this year’s Pakistan Super League.
The left-armer’s return comes two weeks after head coach Mike Hesson said Shaheen needed to “work on” his bowling.
Hesson, therefore, had went for an inexperienced bowling line-up -- featuring the likes of upcoming T20 prospects Salman Mirza and Ahmed Daniyal — in the recently concluded series against Bangladesh, which Pakistan lost 2-1.
However, the side picked for the West Indies series on Friday features wealth of pace-bowling experience in Hasan Ali and Haris Rauf along with Shaheen.
No changes have been made in the batting line-up, with Babar and Rizwan remaining out of favour in the shortest format.
The senior duo, however, will continue to be part of Pakistan’s plan for ODIs as the team starts taking shape for the 2027 World Cup after their first-round exit from the ICC Champions Trophy and a 3-0 series loss in New Zealand.
Among the regulars in the one-day squad, young batter Hasan Nawaz has been picked as the only uncapped player after impressive performances in T20Is, the priority format for Pakistan currently with the T20 World Cup now months away.
‘ON THE RIGHT TRACK’
The recent loss to Bangladesh has raised questions over Pakistan’s preparations for next year’s showpiece in India and Sri Lanka – the T20 Asia Cup is also likely to be held in September. The national side was poor especially with the bat in the first two matches of the series before bouncing back for a consolation win in the third.
Pakistan T20 captain Salman Ali Agha, however, has called for calm amid criticism.
“We assessed the conditions but our execution wasn’t up to the mark,” Salman said during the post-series press conference on Thursday. “But it’s part of the game and I believe we are on the right track in terms of the kind of team we want to build.”
With Hesson at the helm, Pakistan seem to be adapting to a new style of play and the team is undergoing a transition, hence. Salman said following the “process” was imperative.
“The focus is on the process and the belief is that if we keep following it, success will follow, be it the Olympics, Asia Cup or the World Cup,” he noted, while raising his concerns over pitch conditions in Bangladesh.
“These weren’t the ideal pitches for us to prepare for the Asia Cup and the World Cup because I don’t think we are going to get pitches like these going forward from here.
“But as international players we expect ourselves to do well regardless of the surfaces and in this first two matches of the series we failed to execute our plans.”
Hesson, meanwhile, reviewed his first six games in the role with optimism.
“First 6 games on two contrasting pitches gave us key insights,” the New Zealand wrote on X on Friday. “A young batting group shone with 200+ scores early.
“Mirpur which is the lowest scoring venue in T20I’s certainly tested our adaptability and after struggling early we fought back and showed an ability to learn with experience.”
T20I squad: Salman Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Nawaz, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem
ODI squad: Mohammad Rizwan (captain), Salman Ali Agha, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Hasan Ali, Hassan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem
Published in Dawn, July 26th, 2025
