KARACHI: Veteran batsman Shoaib Malik has been included in Pakistan’s Twenty20 World Cup squad, replacing top order batsman Sohaib Maqsood, who was ruled out due to a back problem, selectors said Saturday.
The 39-year-old has been in prolific form in the ongoing National Twenty20 tournament in Pakistan, having scored 225 in seven games and there were calls from the fans for his inclusion.
Having retired from test cricket in 2015 and one-day internationals two years ago, Malik had announced he will end his career after the Twenty20 World Cup, if selected.
On Friday, Pakistan made three changes to their 15-man World Cup squad announced last month but had included Maqsood in the squad subject to proving his fitness.
But chief selector Mohammad Wasim said doctors have ruled Maqsood out.
“Sohaib is devastated to miss out on the T20 World Cup on doctors’ advice and following discussions with the team management, we have decided to include Malik in the side,” Wasim is quoted as saying in a Pakistan Cricket Board release.
Malik captained Pakistan in the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007 and was a member of the side that won the tournament in 2009.
He played the last of his 116 Twenty20 internationals against England in September last year.
The Pakistan squad will depart for Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on 15 October.
The World Cup starts in Oman and the UAE from October 17. Pakistan will open their campaign with a high-voltage game against archrivals India on October 24 in Dubai.
Updated squad: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Junior, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shoaib Malik
Traveling reserves: Khushdil Shah, Shahnawaz Dahani, and Usman Qadir.
Shoaib Malik gets T20 World Cup place in Pakistan squad
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Shoaib Malik gets T20 World Cup place in Pakistan squad
- 39-year-old Malik has been in prolific form in the ongoing National Twenty20 tournament in Pakistan
- He had announced he will end his career after the Twenty20 World Cup, if selected
Pakistan finance chief calls for change to population-based revenue-sharing formula
- Muhammad Aurangzeb criticizes current NFC formula, says it is holding back development
- Minister says Pakistan to repay $1.3 billion debt in April as economic indicators improve
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Saturday the country’s revenue-sharing formula between the federal and provincial governments “has to change,” arguing that allocating the bulk of funds on the basis of population was holding back long-term development.
The revenue-sharing is done under the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award that determines how federally collected taxes are divided between the center and the provinces. Under the current formula, much of the distribution weight is based on population, with smaller weightages assigned to factors such as poverty, revenue generation and inverse population density.
“Under the NFC award, 82 percent allocation is done on the basis of population,” Aurangzeb said while addressing the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry’s regional office in Lahore. “This has to change. This is one area which is going to hold us back from realizing the full potential of this country.”
Economists and policy analysts have long suggested broadening the NFC criteria to give greater weight to tax effort, human development indicators and environmental risk, though any change would require political consensus among provinces, making reform politically sensitive.
Aurangzeb also highlighted the economic achievements of the country in recent years, saying Pakistan’s import cover had improved from roughly two weeks just a few years ago to about 2.5 months currently, adding that the government had repaid a $500 million Eurobond last year.
“The next repayment is of $1.3 billion in April,” he continued, adding that “we will pay these obligations, which are the obligations of Pakistan, as we go forward.”
The minister also noted that unlike in 2022, when devastating floods forced Pakistan to seek international pledges at a Geneva conference, the government did not issue an international appeal during more recent flooding, arguing that fiscal buffers had strengthened.
“This time, the prime minister and the cabinet decided that we do not need to go for international appeal because we have the means,” he said.
He reiterated the government was pursuing export-led growth to avoid repeating past boom-and-bust cycles driven by import-led expansion that quickly depleted foreign exchange reserves and pushed Pakistan back into International Monetary Fund programs.
