Salman Ali Agha vows more opportunities for youngsters in T20I tri-series

Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha expressed his determination to provide emerging cricketers with ‘maximum chances’ during the home T20I tri-series against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, scheduled to get underway on Wednesday.

Addressing the pre-series press conference on the eve of the 12-day-long assignment, Agha said that the national team’s priority would be to succeed, stressing that no opposition could be taken lightly in the shortest format, but remained committed to providing youngsters with ample opportunities to prove their mettle.”Out of the 15 players we have, the strive would be to give everyone the opportunity, but at the end of the day, our first priority is to win matches because we cannot take any team lightly in T20I cricket,” said Agha.

“So, first priority would be to win, and yes, we will try to give players maximum chances,” he added.

Pakistan’s T20I squad for the upcoming tri-series featured only one change from the team that took on South Africa in a three-match home assignment last month, with Abdul Samad replacing Hasan Nawaz.

Hasan failed to amass double figures in each of his last six innings in the shortest format, since his 56-run knock against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the T20 tri-series in Sharjah in September.

Meanwhile, Agha, in response to a question regarding the team combination for the upcoming series, acknowledged the middle-order’s recent struggle and hinted at Samad’s inclusion in the lineup.

“In the middle order, we are not getting the performances we would like to get. Hasan Nawaz is not here [with the team], but I have faith that he will soon come back. In place of him, we have Abdul Samad, so perhaps we can give him the opportunity because he also bats at number six and can play the role of a finisher.”

The Pakistan captain further reiterated that the upcoming tri-series, like their previous assignments, is a stepping stone for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, scheduled to be played next year, and thus the home side aim to play accordingly to bolster their preparations.

Salman Ali Agha also highlighted the value of all-rounders, particularly praising Faheem Ashraf and Mohammad Nawaz, noting, “When you have all-rounders who can bowl four overs, why not use them?”

For the unversed, Pakistan will start their T20I tri-series campaign against Zimbabwe in the curtain raiser before taking on Sri Lanka on November 22.

Each team will play a total of four matches during the league stage, with the top two progressing to the final, scheduled to be played at the same venue on November 29.

Pakistan Squad for T20I tri-series: Salman Ali Agha (c), Abdul Samad, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan (wk), Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan (wk) and Usman Tariq.

Schedule for Pakistan-hosted T20I tri-series

November 18: Pakistan vs ZimbabweNovember 20: Sri Lanka vs ZimbabweNovember 22: Pakistan vs Sri LankaNovember 23: Pakistan vs ZimbabweNovember 25: Sri Lanka vs ZimbabweNovember 27: Pakistan vs Sri LankaNovember 29: Final