Masood gets maiden call-up, lead Pakistan pacer Shaheen Afridi named in T20 World Cup squad

Shaheen, who is under treatment in London, is expected to resume bowling in the nets in early October and will join the team in Australia

Shan Masood on Thursday received his maiden T20 call while experienced batter Fakhar Zaman was dropped from the Pakistan team picked for the World Cup in Australia.

A fit again Shaheen Shah Afridi has also been named in the squad.

Masood, who captained Derbyshire in the Vitality Blast in England and did outstandingly well in red and white ball formats, replaces Zaman who is out with a knee injury.

Fakhar despite being discarded for the World Cup and home series against England has been named as travelling reserve for the World Cup.

Chief Selector Muhammad Wasim announced the World Cup squad besides 18 players for the home series of seven T20 matches against England in Karachi and Lahore at the PCB headquarters in Lahore on Thursday.

While the selectors have avoided any experiments in the World Cup squad they have named two uncapped players, allrounder Aamir Jamal and mystery spinner Abrar Ahmed in the home squad besides including a reserve wicketkeeper batsman in Muhammad Haris.

Wasim said despite the fact that there was concern over the failures of the middle and lower order batting in the Asia Cup they had decided to stick with the same set of players who had been playing in the T20 set up since last year’s World Cup in UAE.