LAHORE – Pakistan left all-rounders Mohammad Hafeez and Imad Wasim out ofa 16-man squad for the six-nation Asia Cup, to be played in Dubai and AbuDhabi from next week, selectors announced Tuesday.
But left-handed opener Shan Masood gets his first chance in Pakistan´sone-day squad after scoring 1,200-plus runs in the two domestic one-daytournaments, chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq said.
The 28-year-old has so far played 12 Tests for Pakistan.
Sarfraz Ahmed will lead the side, which opens their Cup campaign againstthe wildcard entrant on September 16 before taking on arch-rivals India ina highly-anticipated match three days later. Both rounds are in Dubai.
Hafeez, 37 was part of Pakistan´s 5-0 one-day series win in Zimbabwe inJuly, but was not played in any of the matches.
“We conducted fitness tests and since there is no compromise on fitness wehave not included Hafeez and Imad Wasim,” Inzamam told media whileannouncing the squad in Lahore.
The Asia Cup begins September 15 and features India, Pakistan, Bangladesh,Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and a qualifier team.
Six teams — Hong Kong, Singapore, Nepal, United Arab Emirates, Oman andMalaysia — are currently facing off in Kuala Lumpur to secure the finalberth.
Cup teams are divided in two groups. Two sides are culled for the SuperFour rounds, after which the top two finishers go to the September 28 finalin Dubai.
Squad: Sarfraz Ahmed (captain), Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Shan Masood,Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Haris Sohail, Shadab Khan, MohammadNawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Amir, Junaid Khan, Usman KhanShinwari and Shaheen Shah Afridi – APP/AFP