Lahore, May 24 (IANS): The runners-up in the previous edition of the tournament, Pakistan have named their squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 with Babar Azam leading a strong side after he was reinstated as their white-ball captain earlier this year. In a boost for Pakistan, pacer Haris Rauf was included in the squad after he recovered from an injury, having last featured for the side in January.

“This is an extremely talented and balanced side that has a mixture of youth and experience," the PCB said in its statement on Friday. "These players have been playing together for some time and look well-prepared and settled for next month’s event.

“This is an extremely talented and balanced side that has a mixture of youth and experience. These players have been playing together for some time and look well-prepared and settled for next month’s event.

“Haris Rauf is fully fit and bowling well in the nets. It would have been nice if he had gotten an outing at Headingley, but we remain confident that he will continue to maintain an upward trajectory in the upcoming matches, as he will have an important role to play along with other strike bowlers in the T20 World Cup.”

Pakistan are currently playing a bilateral series against England in preparation for the mega event, with most of the players from the squad for the bilateral series set to travel to the Caribbean and the USA for the T20 World Cup.

Pakistan are placed in Group A with India, Ireland, Canada, and co-hosts USA. They play their first game against the USA on 6 June in Dallas.

Pakistan are currently getting ready to play a T20I series against England in England.

Pakistan squad for T20 World Cup:

Babar Azam (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan