LAHORE, June 1: Three probables, who were overlooked in the original list of 34, have been included in the shortlist of 21, announced on Friday for the second phase of the training camp set up from Monday to finalise Pakistan’s U-19 squad for their coming tour to England.
The selection of the squad for the England tour, to run from July 25 to Aug 25, will be the first assignment of the national junior selection committee, headed by Col Naushad Ali.
The committee summoned 34 probables for the trials, which were held at Muridke from May 12. During the trials, it called up three more players, on the pretext that due to hot weather some players had been unfit.
However, the selectors did not release the names of the three players to the national press. But surprisingly all three late callers, including pacers Azhar Atari (Lahore Shalimar) and Junaid Nadir (Islamabad) along with middle-order batsman Ali Asad (Karachi) succeeded in impressing the selectors for inclusion in the list of 21 though all three showed mediocre performances in the last inter-region championship.
Pakistan will play two four-day matches, a couple of two-day practice games besides five one-dayers on the England tour.
After attending the camp till June 13, the players will disperse to play for their respective district tournaments. They will reassemble for the second phase of the camp starting in Abbottabad from July 5-23. The final 14-member squad will be announced by June 21.
Surprisingly, the PCB has appointed Mansoor Rana as the team’s coach in place of Mohsin Sheikh, under whose coaching the team performed well on their tough tour to Australia earlier this year whereas under Mansoor Pakistan Under-19s had lost the last home series against India.
Probables: Shan Masood (Karachi Urban), Usman Salahuddin (Lahore Ravi), Umer Ameen (Rawalpindi), Zeeshan Mushtaq (Islamabad), Adil Ameen (Peshawar), Ahmed Iqbal (Karachi Urban), Taimur Ali (Quetta), Imad Wasim (Islamabad), Kamran Hussain (Islamabad), Shahzaib Ahmed (Karachi Urban), Gulraiz Sadaf (Multan), Mohammad Hussain (Karachi Urban), Junaid Khan (Abbottabad), Mohammad Rameez (Rawalpindi), Rahatullah (Peshawar), Jibran Khan (Peshawar), Ali Asad (Karachi), Mohammad Aamir (Rawalpindi), Azhar Atari (Lahore Shalimar), Junaid Nadir (Islamabad), Ahmed Shahzad (Lahore Shalimar).
Officials: Sajjad Gill (trainer), Mansoor Rana (coach).