Ex-Pak greats call for infusion of young blood in squad for Zimbabwe tour

Former Pakistani cricket greats Zaheer Abbas and Mohsin Khan have called for the inclusion of new, young talent in the squad for the upcoming Zimbabwe tour to benefit preparations for the future,

According to The Nation, Pakistan is scheduled to play two Tests, three one-day internationals and one Twenty20 during the tour, which is expected to kick off by the end of this month.

Calling the Zimbabwe tour as a great, nurturing grooming ground for the young players, former captain Abbas said that providing more opportunities to young players on the Zimbabwe tour will benefit the Pakistani team for the long run, adding that they will have a good opportunity to get exposure as Zimbabwe is not a very strong Test team.

According to Abbas, it is good to see that youngsters like Harris Sohail, Ahmed Shehzad, Umar Amin, Asad Ali, Hammad Azam were tried along with veteran left arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar, adding that the inclusion of youngsters in ODIs and T20Is against the West Indies was also encouraging.

Agreeing with Abbas, former chief selector and head coach Mohsin Khan has also stressed the inclusion of numerous new faces for the upcoming tour, calling it a tour to test the young Pakistani players, reports the Express Tribune.

According to Khan, the young players have shown much inconsistency in their performance at the domestic and international level given that Pakistan is not holding any international matches, adding that as the series is comparatively easy, except for three or four important senior players, the rest should be young.

The former coach also advised the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to name a new vice captain under Misbah-ul Haq, adding that it is time for the team to groom a youngster who can replace Misbah as captain in the future.

However, Khan, who served for the PCB in various capacities, advised the side to take assistance from former greats employed by the board like Wasim Bari and Intikhab Alam.