Pakistan cricket team have included batsman Saud Shakeel in their squad for the upcoming Asia Cup 2023. He will be travelling with the national team to Multan on Sunday. Earlier, Pakistan selected Faheem Ashraf ahead of Shakeel for the multi-nation tournament. Inzamam-ul-Haq who is the Chief selector said that they opted for Ashraf because of his round abilities. Meanwhile, Tayyab Tahir who was earlier added to the 17-member squad has now shifted to the traveling reserve. Tahir had a great outing in PSL 2023 and he also scored a century against India A in the final of the Emerging Men’s Asia Cup.
Talking about Shakeel’s performance, he has done well in his Test career so far, collecting 875 runs at an average of 87.50 with two hundred and six fifties. He was also picked in the recently passed three-match ODI series against Hashmatullah Shahidi’s Afghanistan. Babar Azam's team won the third one-day game by 59 runs on Saturday to sweep the series, replacing Australia at the top of the ODI rankings.
He is yet to prove his worth in the 50-over format, Shakeel has got decent numbers in his List A career, making 2489 runs from 69 innings with four hundreds and 12 fifties.
"He is playing spin very well, so we included him in the Asia Cup squad," skipper Babar Azam said after their victory in the third ODI against Afghanistan in Colombo on Saturday.
Pakistan will star in their Asia Cup 2023 campaign against Rohit Paudel’s Nepal on August 30. Their high-octane clash against India is on September 2 at the Pallekele International Stadium.
Pakistan updated Asia Cup 2023 squad: Babar Azam (C), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Saud Shakeel, Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Haris (wk), Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Wasim.
Travelling reserve: Tayyab Tahir.