Abdul Samad to lead Pakistan Shaheens in Rising Stars Asia Cup

In the 50-over men's Asia Cup Rising Stars tournament, which will be held in Qatar from November 19 to 29, Pakistan Shaheens will be led by Abdul Samad.

The selectors have named a 15-player squad which largely comprises players with international experience for the eight-team tournament. The batting includes Hasan Nawaz, who made a comeback in Pakistan's ODI team after a year's gap in the recent tri-series, Haider Ali, Maaz Sadaqat, Shamyl Hussain, Farhan Yousaf, and Shahzaib Khan.

Fast bowler Mohammad Hasnain, who made his ODI debut in 2019, leads the bowling department, which includes Ahmed Daniyal, Akif Javed, and Sufyan Moqim, who was in the Pakistan squad for the Rawalpindi leg of the tri-series.

Mohammad Imran, Saad Masood, and Danish Aziz are the three all-rounders selected by the selectors. Former Pakistan U19 captain Rohail Nazir is the only wicketkeeper. Imran made his Test debut in September in the third Test at Edgbaston against England and played his first T20I against Sri Lanka last month.

The only two players who have not yet made their Pakistani debuts are Yousaf and Shahzaib.

Shaheens hold both the T20 and 50-over Asia Cup Rising Stars titles. They defeated India A by 128 runs in the final at R Premadasa in Colombo, Sri Lanka, to win the previous 50-over tournament in 2023.

Pakistan are grouped with UAE, India A, and Nepal in Group B, and will begin their title defence on November 20 against UAE. They play India A on November 22 and their last group-stage match will be on November 25 against Nepal. Group A comprises Bangladesh A, Sri Lanka A, Afghanistan A and Hong Kong, China. The Rising Stars Asia Cup semi-finals will be played on November 26 and 27, and the top two teams from each group will advance.

Pakistan Shaheens squad for Rising Stars Asia Cup

Abdul Samad (c), Ahmed Daniyal, Akif Javed, Danish Aziz, Farhan Yousaf, Haider Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Maaz Sadaqat, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Imran, Rohail Nazir (wk), Saad Masood, Shahzaib Khan, Shamyl Hussain, Sufyan Moqim