“This is an extremely talented and balanced side that has a mixture of youth and experience. These players have been playing together for some time and look well prepared and settled for next month’s event,” a statement attributed to the selection committee in a PCB release said.
ESPNcricinfo learnt that an initial squad was finalised and sent to PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi on May 23, but a conflict around due process emerged, with certain members of the selection panel feeling they had not been consulted properly. Naqvi asked to see the minutes of the meeting and voting patterns of prior meetings, which had not been recorded.
As a result, the squad was rejected and returned to the selection panel, with Naqvi insisting the members achieve consensus on the squad and the meeting minutes be recorded. The PCB rejected any notion of the chairman interfering in specific selection decisions, and that the reason for the initial squad being rejected was the failure to follow due process as set out for the selection committee.
Pakistan had opted to not announce a provisional squad at the start of the month, something most other sides did. In the end, they were the last team to officially confirm their final squad, with all 19 other teams having submitted theirs a few days ago.
Pakistan begin their T20 World Cup campaign against USA in Dallas on June 6 before they play India in New York on June 9. Pakistan will stay in New York to face Canada on June 11 and then travel to Lauderhill to play Ireland on June 16 for their final group game.
Pakistan squad for T20 World Cup 2024
Babar Azam (capt), Saim Ayub, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Azam Khan (wk), Usman Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Amir, Abbas Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed