The Pakistan team will host the Champions Trophy which will be held on February 19. They will enter the tournament as defending champions and win their fourth ICC event overall. The men in green would want to take the chance to win the tournament at home.
The next ICC event following the Champions trophy is the T20 World Cup starting next year. The tournament will be hosted by India and Sri Lanka and the team will be looking to make a comeback after a terrible performance in the last edition. This has prompted the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to launch a program called 'Strike Force', led by former Pakistan all-rounder Abdul Razzaq. This is a program designed to identify talent who may have the potential to become power hitters in the shortest format of the game and help them select the perfect squad for the 2026 T20 World Cup. Pakistan cricket director Abdullah Khurrum has also shared details on how this program will work.
“Originally, that was the idea but due to logistical challenges, we decided to start the Strike Force program by holding a 90-day special camp for 25 players who have either played for Pakistan, in the domestic league or on have performed well at U19 level, or in T20 leagues in the country. In the phase that begins at No. 13 under Razzaq's watch, he will see how many players can be shortlisted for specific roles in the T20 squad,” Khurrum said.
The program will feature players who have represented Pakistan without much success, including Haider Ali, Khushdil Shah, Usman Khan and Azam Khan along with some young and new talented players who have played in T20 and domestic cricket. The players are Abdul Samad, Saad Masood, Khawaja Nafay, Mubashir Khan, Hasan Nawaz, Imran Randhawa, Muhammad Akhlaq, Jahandad Khan, Abbas Afridi, Muhammad Faiq and Muhammad Faizan.
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