File photo of Babar Azam©Twitter
Several veteran players, including Pakistan’s T20 World Cup-beaten team captain Babar Azam, Muhammad Rizwan and Shaheen Shah Afridi, are likely to be rested for the home Test series against Bangladesh in August.Sources said the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is in touch with Test captain Shan Masood, who captains Yorkshire in England, and new red-ball head coach Jason Gillespie of Australia to finalise plans for the Bangladesh series.
Pakistan were eliminated in Group A after losing to newcomers USA and arch rivals India.
“One of the ideas being considered is to rest veteran players like Babar, Shaheen and Rizwan and instead trial uncapped players or those who have only played a handful of international matches for Pakistan,” the source said.
“However, no final decision has been taken yet as ultimately it will be Masood and Gillespie who will make the final decision on team selection. The number of national selectors may also be reduced in the coming weeks and the PCB may revert to the old system of selection process,” he added.
Sources said the PCB will also consult Gillespie and white-ball head coach Gary Kirsten on plans for the ICC Champions Trophy, which will be played in February-March next year.
Before this mega event, Pakistan will host Bangladesh and England for five Test matches at home, followed by a white-ball series in Australia and then a Test match and a white-ball series in South Africa.
Pakistan will return home in January to host South Africa and New Zealand in a 50-over triangular series before the Champions Trophy. After the ICC event, Pakistan will host the West Indies for two Test matches and a white-ball match before the Pakistan Super League.
“The main thing is to finalise the workload system table for players taking into account their availability in the Pakistan team during this period and their contracts in franchise leagues,” the source said.
“The next few weeks will be very important and interesting for Pakistan cricket as it seems the Pakistan Cricket Board is also waiting to see if Babar Azam will take up the captaincy himself before discussing the future of the white-ball captaincy,” he said.
The PCB has already asked Kirsten to submit a detailed report on the team culture, players’ individual behaviour, attitude and skill levels, as well as what changes can be made in ODI and T20 cricket.
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