Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt has named his Pakistan squad for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2024, which will be played in the West Indies and the United States from June 1.
Salman, who is now working as a commentator, picked his squad for the Men in Green which consists of experience as well as emerging talents.
The squad has a mixture of calm players — Mohammad Rizwan, and Babar Azam — as well as hard-hitters like Saim Ayub, Usman Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, and Azam Khan.
Salman picked spinner Usama Mir over Abrar Ahmed while he backed pacer Haris Rauf to be a part of the side in the mega event as he recovers from a shoulder injury.
"In my opinion, Haris must be in the squad but he should few matches play before the tournament. The reverse swing will be effective in those conditions and we need a death bowler," Salman said on his YouTube channel.
Meanwhile, he named Aamer Jamal as the pace bowling all-rounder and gave the reasoning behind it.
"Among all-rounders, they must consider Aamer Jamal. He bowled well in the Test series against Australia but failed in T20Is in New Zealand, however, he should be there as pace all-rounder," he added.
Salman Butt's World Cup squad for Pakistan:
Babar Azam (c,) Mohammad Rizwan, Saim Ayub, Fakhar Zaman, Usman Khan, Azam Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Imad Wasim, Usama Mir, Aamer Jamal, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf.
Remember, Pakistan is in Group A with arch-rivals India and the two sides will take on one another in one of the most anticipated matches of the World Cup on June 9 at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York
Groups for T20 World Cup 2024
Group A: India, Pakistan, Ireland, Canada, United States
Group B: England, Australia, Namibia, Scotland, Oman
Group C: New Zealand, West Indies, Afghanistan, Uganda, Papua New Guinea
Group D: South Africa, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Netherlands, Nepal