Pakistan’s Achilles heel in their batting set-up has been their middle order. Pakistan’s struggle in the middle order was quite evident in their recent series against Sri Lanka. Pakistan Cricket Board chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq said that they are looking for a player who can fill the gap. Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq have been ensuring a healthy opening start across all formats. But the middle order Fawad Alam, Mohammed Rizwan and Salman Ali Agha had their moments to shine but failed to build up on the gained momentum. The first name that has popped up to fill that place has come up is Saud Shakeel. He stole the limelight with his unbeaten 208 in the first Test against Sri Lanka. “In the top-order, Fakhar, Imam and Babar have performed well in the ODIs, but our middle-order hasn’t performed that way. We have included Saud Shakeel, who has done well in Sri Lanka and Pakistan. He is also a left-hander, so we are considering that and we too think that we should have at least one player in the middle-order which makes our middle-order strong. We are also considering all-rounders in ODI cricket as sometimes we have to chase over 300 in the ODIs, who can hit big shots in the middle overs. So we are looking to work on it and we will see which players are available in first-class cricket who can fill this gap,” Inzamam said. Earlier in the press conference Inzamam-ul-Haq announced a 17-member team for the upcoming ACC Men’s Asia Cup. The Asia Cup will kick off on August 30, with arch-rivals India and Pakistan set to lock horns in Kandy, Sri Lanka, on September 2. The tournament will follow a hybrid model, with four matches to be hosted by Pakistan and all of India’s matches and a total of nine fixtures taking place in the Emerald Isle.
Pakistan’s squad for Asia Cup: Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (captain), Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Tayyab Tahir, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Haris, Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Mohammad Nawaz and Usama Mir, Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah and Shaheen Afridi.
