LAHORE – Pakistan cricket team likely to be announced today (Wednesday) for the Sri Lanka Tour, said an inside source of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Tuesday.
The source said that if the selection committee got the approval of PCB chairman Chaudhary Zaka Ashraf, the team will be announced today. It is pertinent to mention here that the PCB selection committee and head coach Dav Whatmore have been seen very active regarding the selection of the national team for last weeks.
On the recommendations of the head coach, the matter of separate teams for the three formats is under discussions while the matter of captaincy is also another hot issue. Some of the PCB officials are in favour of Misbah’s captaincy and want him to retain the captaincy while on the other hand, Afridi, Shoaib Malik and M Hafeez are listened to be hot contests for the captaincy slot.
Another hot issue is the wicketkeeping slot, which is likely to go to three different players for all three formats. Adnan Akmal is likely to be retained as test wicketkeeper while Shakeel Ansar of Sialkot Stallions, who has been named the best wicketkeeper in recently-concluded Super8 T20, is likely to get the selectors’ nod for Twent20s.
Sarfraz Ahmed is a strong contender to be retained for the one-dayers. But there is also an interesting development as both young keepers are facing a tough challenge from senior Kamran Akmal. Whatmore is backing the return of discarded Kamran for the one-dayers and T20s. Sialkot’s left-arm spinner Raza Hassan is also all set to be named in the final squad.