Islamabad: Pakistan is keen to field a strong squad for the upcoming mega events, 2023 Asia Cup and World Cup.

Chief selector Haroon Rasheed, speaking to the media at the Gaddafi Stadium, stated that after the Asia Cup and World Cup, challenges like the 2024 T20 World Cup are in the offing. “We have three mega events coming up. We can’t afford to experiment too much as we have very limited amount of time. We can do experiments in T20I but not in ODI. It is time to finalize the squad because we only have five matches with New Zealand and three matches with Afghanistan [before Asia Cup and World Cup],” said Rasheed.

Rasheed also disclosed that there are plans to conduct a number of one-day matches featuring the top 30 to 40 players in order to finalise the squad for the upcoming mega events.

“I’ve already discussed this plan with Babar Azam. I’m just waiting for the announcement of team management and coaches before we could finalise this strategy,” he said.

“We will hold a series of matches between Pakistan team vs the rest of the players to check the potential of the probable players and our bench strength to help us with the World Cup squad selection,” he added.

The Chief selector also reacted to Pakistan’s recent T20I series defeat to Afghanistan in Sharjah.

“Losing is part of the game, but the reaction we see in Pakistan is not seen anywhere in the world. Every team takes to the field with the intention of winning, but defeat is also inevitable. Nobody gets continuous success. The team that performs better in batting, bowling, and fielding becomes the winner. We are also striving to improve in all three aspects,” he concluded.

Published in The Daily National Courier, April, 06 2023

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