Pakistan’s solitary player from their 15-man World Cup squad to have visited India before – Read more to find out
Pakistan Cricket Team (Source: Twitter)
The Pakistan selectors on Friday announced their 15-man squad for the upcoming ODI World Cup. Babar Azam has been named the captain of the side. Pakistan begins their campaign with a game against the Netherlands on 6th October.
For many in the Pakistan team, this is the first time they are visiting India. The last time any Pakistani team came to India for a bilateral series was in 2012. The 2016 T20 World Cup was the last time the men-in-green toured India for a major event. India had hosted that year’s World T20 tournament and played Pakistan at Kolkata.
Surprisingly there is one player who has toured India before that has found his name in the 15-man squad. The player in question was part of the Pakistani squad last they toured India to play cricket.
Pakistani all-rounder’s past Indian journey –
Mohammad Nawaz, the 29-year Pakistani player had toured India in 2016. The all-rounder was part of the squad that had come to India for the 2016 T20 World Cup. Shahid Afridi the father-in-law of Shaheen Afridi was the captain of the side.
The Pakistani side had the likes of former skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed, Mohammad Sami, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz, Ahmed Shahzad, Umar Akmal, and Mohammad Hafeez.
Interestingly current Pakistan captain Babar Azam was also originally part of the squad. His name was later withdrawn along with Khurram Manzoor and Rumman Raees. Even Iftikhar Ahmed was originally going to be included but wasn’t picked.
Pakistan that year was placed in a tough group along with India, Australia, New Zealand, and Bangladesh. Pakistan began with a huge win against Bangladesh before losing their remaining games. Shahid Afridi saw his side finish 4th in the points table with just two points from 4 games.
Babar Azam and his side had to come back to Lahore from Dubai as they were still waiting for the Indian visas. According to a report carried out by ESPN CRICINFO, the Visa should come by Wednesday. Pakistan will be playing its first warm-up match on 29th September against New Zealand before taking on Australia on 3rd October.
