Mohammad Haris will lead Pakistan A in the eight-team Men's Emerging Asia Cup, which will run from July 14 to 23 in Sri Lanka. Omair Yousuf has been named his deputy in the 15-member squad that includes the likes of Saim Ayub, Shahnawaz Dahani and Mohammad Wasim among others.
Haris was part of the senior T20I squad in the most recent series that Pakistan played against New Zealand at home. In all, he has represented the senior side in five ODIs and nine T20Is. Others in the squad who have senior international experience include Arshad Iqbal, Kamran Ghulam, Wasim, Ayub, Dahani, and Tayyab Tahir. Wasim is the most experienced out of the lot, with two Tests, 14 ODIs and 27 T20Is under his belt.
Haris' deputy Yousuf has not turned out for Pakistan but has a good domestic record, wherein he averages 43.33 in 40 first-class games. In List A cricket, Yousuf has scored 1158 runs in 41 matches at 32.16. He was Pakistan A's leading run-scorer when they visited Zimbabwe for a six-game unofficial ODI series in May this year, with 275 runs in four outings at 91.66. Pakistan A had gone down 4-2 in that series.
Pakistan A, the defending champions, have been placed in Group A alongside India A, Nepal and Sri Lanka A. They will open their campaign against Nepal A on July 14, followed by the clash against their Indian counterparts on July 16 and Sri Lanka A on July 18. The tournament will be held in the 50-over format. Group B consists of Afghanistan A, Bangladesh A, Oman and UAE.
The top two sides from each group will qualify for the semi-finals. The final will be held on July 23.
Pakistan A squad: Mohammad Haris (capt & wk), Omair Yousuf (vice-capt), Amad Butt, Arshad Iqbal, Haseebullah, Kamran Ghulam, Mehran Mumtaz, Mubasir Khan, Mohammad Wasim Jnr., Qasim Akram, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Shahnawaz Dahani, Sufiyan Muqeem, Tayyab Tahir
Reserves: Abdul Bangalzai, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Junaid, Rohail Nazir
Plenty of internationals in Afghanistan A
Shahidullah Kamal will lead a strong 15-member Afghanistan A squad consisting of eight capped players for the competition. The squad has the likes of Ihsanullah Janat, Ikram Alikhil, Riaz Hassan and Noor Ali Zadran in the mix. Noor, who has represented Afghanistan in 51 ODIs and 20 T20Is, is the most experienced out of the lot.
Afghanistan A are part of Group B and start their campaign against Oman on July 14, followed by Sri Lanka A on July 16 and Bangladesh A on July 18.
Afghanistan A squad: Shahidullah Kamal (capt), Ikram Alikhil (wk), Ishaq Rahimi (wk), Riaz Hassan, Ihsanullah Jannat, Noor Ali Zadran, Zubaid Akbari, Baheer Shah, Allah Noor Nasiri, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Izharulhaq Naveed, Wafadar Momand, Ibrahim Abdulrahimzai, Salim Safi, Zia Ur Rehman Akbar, Bilal Sami.
Reserves: Abdul Malik, Asghar Atal, Abdul Baqi, Zuhaib Zamankhil