Lahore February 22, 2016: Chairman PCB Shaharyar Mohammad Khan has approved the following changes in Pakistan team for Asia Cup and World Cup due to injuries.
- Sharjeel Khan to replace Babar Azam for Asia Cup and World Cup
- Mohammad Sami to replace Ruman Raees for Asia Cup and World Cup
- Khalid Latif to replace Iftikhar Ahmed for World Cup
Babar Azam and Ruman Raees, who were selected in the Pakistan team for Asia Cup and T20 World Cup sustained injuries and are not available for both the events.
Babar Azam has got a fracture when he was hit on his left forearm in a practice session during PSL and after CT scan it was revealed that he has a fracture in his forearm and as per Doctors report would be out of cricket for 3 to 4 weeks.
Ruman Raees suffered a grade 1 hamstring strain. Ruman Raees is operating 60% of his fitness currently and would take some time to recover completely before he starts bowling in the nets. He is not taking part in the matches in the final stages of the tournament.
“After having looked at the performance of the players in the PSL competition, the selection committee along with Captain Shahid Afridi and Head Coach Waqar Younis have come to the conclusion that keeping in view the outstanding performances of Sharjeel Khan and Mohammad Sami in PSL matches, they should be included as replacements for injured Babar Azam and Ruman Raees respectively for both Asia Cup and World Cup.
Since we have the option available to bring in changes in our World Cup squad before the support period starting fromMarch 8, 2016, it has also been decided to use this option and decided to include Khalid Latif, who showed tremendous display of power hitting in the PSL matches, which paved the way for his inclusion in the World Cup squad in place of Iftikhar Ahmed.
Khalid Latif could not be made part of the Asia Cup squad due to some technical reasons but would join the squad for the World Cup” said Haroon Rashid chairman Selection Committee.
