Mohammad Babar Azam to lead Pakistan Under-15s
Pakistan have delayed announcing their squad for the Under-15 World Cup, which begins in April in the West Indies, because several players were found to be overage after wrist tests were conducted on the 37 probables
Cricinfo staff
08-Apr-2008
Mohammad Babar Azam will lead Pakistan's Under-15 squad in the International U-15 Challenge Competition, scheduled to be held in the Caribbean from April 16 to May 5. The 14-member squad was chosen by the junior selection committee, headed by Colonel Naushad Ali, the former Pakistan opener.
Haroon Rasheed, the former Pakistan batsman, was appointed the manager while Ameer Akbar, the former first-class stalwart, will coach the side.
Pakistan had delayed announcing the squad because several players were found to be overage after wrist tests were conducted on the 37 probables. The board's junior selection committee had selected a 15-member squad with five stand-bys to be handed over to the National Cricket Academy for the confirmation of their ages.
The squad was selected after holding a national U-16 tournament in which 180 players took part, 80% of whom were U-15 according to their birth certificates. "We decided to hold the U-16 tournament to pick players both for an U-15 team as well as the academy," Ali had said earlier. "The national selection committee has also given us a list of 18 players not to be included in the academy team due to their availability for the senior team's home series against Bangladesh.
Pakistan U-15 squad Mohammad Qaddafi, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Waqar Khan, Gohar Zafar, Mohammad Hassan Azad, Mirza Ahsan Jamil (vice-capt), Faizan Khan (wk), Mohammad Babar Azam (capt), Nakkash Basharat, Mohammad Naeem, Syed Kumail Abbas Naqvi, Ahsan Ali, Hafiz Usman Qadir, Ahsan Ali Abbasi.