The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced on Monday that pacer Mohammad Hasnain will replace Shaheen Shah Afridi for the upcoming 20 Asia Cup, which will be played in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from Aug 27 to Sep 11.
The 22-year-old has represented Pakistan in 18 T20Is, bagging 17 wickets in the 20-over format so far, the PCB said in the statement.
“Hasnain will join the side from the United Kingdom, where he is representing Oval Invincibles in The Hundred competition,” the cricket board said.
On Saturday, pace spearhead Afridi was ruled out of the Asia Cup and the T20 home series against England due to a right knee ligament injury he suffered during the Test series in Sri Lanka last month.
The PCB medical team has advised the bowler four to six weeks of rest. The bowler is expected to return to competitive cricket in October with the New Zealand T20I tri-series, which will be followed by the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Australia 2022.
In the statement released today, the PCB added that Asif Ali, Haider Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed and Usman Qadir will leave for Dubai in the wee hours of Tuesday.
“They will replace Abdullah Shafique, Imamul Haq, Mohammad Haris, Salman Ali Agha and Zahid Mehmood, who were part of the 16-member ODI squad against the Netherlands.”
Pakistan will take on India in their Asia Cup 2022 opener in Dubai on Aug 28 (Sunday), while their second Group A fixture will be against a qualifier (UAE, Kuwait, Singapore or Hong Kong) in Sharjah on Sep 2 (Friday).
The super four matches will be played from September 3-9.
Squad for T20 Asia Cup: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Naseem Shah, Mohammad Hasnain, Shahnawaz Dahani and Usman Qadir.