Pakistan squad for World T20 announced; Ahmed Shehzad dropped for Khurram Manzoor

Pakistan have announced a 15-man squad that is to travel to India to compete in the World T20 from 8 March. Shahid Afridi will be leading the 15-man contingent.

The biggest surprise is the axing of opener Ahmed Shehzad for 29-year-old Khurram Manzoor, who has never played a T20I. Manzoor has played 16 Tests and 7 ODIs before, but his game has never been seen as fit for the shortest format. He has hit a single six in his international career, and he is not even part of the ongoing Pakistan Super League.

Shehzad has not been in very good form recently, but his exclusion has still taken a lot of fans by surprise, especially since his replacement is not known to be a T20 success. However, Manzoor has 480 runs at an average of 40 with a strike rate of 131 in his last 14 domestic T20 matches.

Apart from Shehzad, there was also bad news for Umar Gul and Sohaib Maqsood, who have also failed to make the cut. Uncapped left-arm seamer Rumman Raees has been named in the squad to be part of the bowling attack.

The pace department looks healthy, and will probably consist of Mohammad Irfan, Wahab Riaz and the returning Mohammad Amir. The batting could be more of an issue for them, with fans already coming down hard on the inclusion of mystery entity Khurram.

Pakistan's 15-man squad:

Squad Shahid Afridi (capt), Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Sarfraz Ahmed, Babar Azam, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Anwar Ali, Mohammad Irfan, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Nawaz, Khurram Manzoor, Rumman Raees

More to follow...