Pakistan Asia Cup 2018 squad announced

Pakistan have announced a 16-member squad for the upcoming edition of the Asia Cup, set to be held in the United Arab Emirates starting September 15.

The Pakistan Asia Cup 2018 squad has Sarfraz Ahmed as captain and includes six pace bowlers.

All-rounder Mohammad Hafeez has been left out of the final squad, along with Imad Wasim, the spinning all-rounder who failed the Yo-Yo test, posting a score of 17.2, 0.2 units short of the minimum criteria.

Instead of Hafeez, the selectors, led by former captain Inzamam Ul Haq, have included Shan Masood, the 28-year-old opening batsman who is yet to debut in limited-overs cricket. Fakhar Zaman has been included as the other opener in the 16-member unit, along with Imamul Ha.

Veteran all-rounder Shoaib Malik, who has announced he will retire from the ODI format after the 2019 World Cup, features in the squad. He had recently spoken about Pakistan's chances in the tournament and the importance of getting off to a good start.

“I think conditions will matter a lot, and forms of players will also play a crucial role in an important tournament like this, and it all depends on how you start this tournament, and how you play your first match”.

Pakistan will play their first game of the tournament on September 16 and follow it with the highly-anticipated clash against arch-rivals India on September 19. Both the games will be played in Dubai. The top two from each group qualify for the super fours, with the finals slated to be held at the Dubai International Stadium on September 28th.

Here's the entire squad:

Fakhar Zaman, Imamul Haq, Shan Masood, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed (captain), Asif Ali, Haris Sohail, Shadab Khan, Muhammad Nawaz, Fahim Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Muhammad Amir, Junaid Khan, Usman Khan Shinwari, Shaheen Shah Afridi