Several key members of Pakistan’s failed T20 World Cup campaign, including captain Babar Azam, Muhammad Rizwan and Shaheen Shah Afridi, could be rested for the home Test series against Bangladesh in August. Sources said the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is in touch with Test captain Shan Masood, who is in England as captain of the Yorkshire county team, and new red-ball coach Australian Jason Gillespie, to finalize plans for the Bangladesh series.
Pakistan were eliminated after losing Group A league matches to newcomers USA and arch-rivals India.
“One of the proposals being considered is to rest some senior players like Babar, Shaheen, Rizwan etc. and instead test players who are uncapped or who have only played a few international matches for Pakistan,” said a source.
“But no final decision has been made because ultimately Masood and Gillespie will make the final decision on team selection, as in the coming weeks the number of national selectors may also be reduced and the PCB may revert to the old system of the selection process,” he added.
The source said the PCB will also consult Gillespie and white-ball coach Gary Kirsten on plans for the ICC Champions Trophy in February-March next year.
Before the mega event, Pakistan will host Bangladesh and England for five Tests. They will then tour Australia for a white-ball series before heading to South Africa for a Test and white-ball series.
Pakistan will return home in January to host South Africa and New Zealand in a 50-over Triangular series ahead of the Champions Trophy. After the ICC event, Pakistan will host West Indies for two Tests and white-ball matches ahead of the Pakistan Super League.
“The main thing is to finalize a workload system chart for players with reference to their availability for Pakistan national team and their contracts in franchise-based leagues this period,” the source said.
“The next few weeks in Pakistan cricket will be very important and interesting because it appears that the PCB is also waiting for Babar Azam to make a captaincy call before they can discuss the future white-ball captain,” he said.
The PCB has already asked Kirsten to submit a detailed report on the team’s culture, individual players’ behavior, their attitudes and skill levels and also what changes can be made in ODI and T20 cricket.
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