Pakistan announce squad for U-19 World Cup

Fifteen out of the 21 probables have been picked for the Pakistan Under-19 squad to play a tri-nation tournament in Sri Lanka this month and then the World Cup in Malaysia in February-March.

Imad Wasim, who led the side to their 3-1 win in England last August, will be captain for both the tournaments. Pakistan, though, have replaced Gulraiz Sadaf, their wicketkeeper for the England tour, with Umair Mir.

Mir played two ODIs when Bangladesh U-19 visited Pakistan in December. He kept wickets in one match in which he also scored 64. Pakistan lost the series 3-2.

Also in the squad is Umar Akmal, the younger brother of Pakistan wicketkeeper Kamran, who has had a terrific debut season for Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited, scoring 851 runs at 85 from nine first-class matches.

England, Sri Lanka and Pakistan will play the tri-nation tournament in Colombo from January 23 to January 30 before the teams head to Malaysia.

Pakistan Under-19 squad
Imad Wasim (capt), Ali Asad, Ahmed Shehzad, Shan Masood, Umar Amin, Umair Mir (wk), Usman Salahuddin Shahzaib Ahmed, Umar Akmal, Mohammad Rameez, Mohammad Aamer, Adil Raza, Junaid Khan, Azhar Attari, Ahsan Mirza