In a surprising move, Pakistan have included seasoned pacers Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz in their final 15-member Cricket World Cup 2019 squad.
Announcing the squad on Monday, chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq said that "Wahab's ability to reverse swing the ball got him selected... Nobody expected the pitches in the UK will play flat even in the early season there. So we have realised that and reviewed our selection."
About Amir's inclusion, he said that the 27-year-old was never discarded.
"We now want to take a bowler who brings a bit of experience and the previous knowledge of having bowled in English conditions," he added.
Squad: Sarfraz Ahmed (c & wk), Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Hafeez, Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Imad Wasim, Haris Sohail, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Hasnain
Both the bowlers were not included in the initial World Cup squad announced last month but Aamir, who is yet to recover from chickenpox, was named for the ODI series against England which Pakistan completed on Sunday.
The selectors have axed allrounder Faheem Ashraf and left-arm pacer Junaid Khan from their initial World Cup squad to make way for the two senior players.
The selectors had discarded Wahab from the tour to England but after the thrashing given to the Pakistani pacers in the one-day series they apparently had a change of mind.
Wahab, who turns 34 next month, last played a one-day international for his country in the opening match of the 2017 Champions Trophy against India going for 87 runs without a wicket and then limping off with an injury.
Since then the selectors have ignored him for 50-overs cricket while Aamir also didn't feature in the series against England after contracting chickenpox and his form remains a concern after he took just five wickets in his last 14 ODIs since the Champions Trophy.
According to the cricket board, Aamir has recovered from his chickenpox and he and Wahab will be available for the warm-up matches against Afghanistan and Bangladesh this week.
In another major decision, the selectors have dropped young batsman Abid Ali from their World Cup squad to make way for the hard-hitting Asif Ali.
Ali was initially not part of the World Cup squad and went to England for the ODI series where he scored two half-centuries.
(With PTI inputs)
