The national cricket selection committee had to make late changes to the Pakistan under-25 squad that has gone to Maldives to play in the South Asian Twenty20 Cricket Championship due to improper travel documents of some players. Pakistan’s discarded opener Shahzaib Hasan and young Zain Abbas had to be dropped from the squad at the last minute as they didn’t have their passports with them.
“Unfortunately we had to make late changes to the squad because Shahzaib had sent his passport to the United States embassy for visa and didn’t get it back on time while Zain still has not got his national identity card so he is without a passport,” one selector said. The selectors replaced the two unlucky players with batsmen, Aqeel Anjum and Ali Khan. Pakistan is grouped with India, Nepal and Sri Lanka in the tournament which also includes Afghanistan, Maldives, Bhutan and Bangladesh.
The Pakistan under-25 squad is being coached by Sabih Azhar, one of the two Pakistani candidates shortlisted by the Pakistan cricket board for the position of head coach of the national team.
