Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif opened up on who should be the Green Shirts’ wicketkeeper in the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024 which will be played in the United States and West Indies.
Mohammad Rizwan, Usman Khan and Azam Khan are the three wicketkeepers in Pakistan’s squad for the T20 World Cup.
In the recent T20I series against Ireland and England, Azam kept the gloves behind the wickets but that no longer looks the case as his disappointing performances in the England series may force the Green Shirts to look towards the other two options.
Latif stated that the senior player [Rizwan] should be Pakistan's wicketkeeper as he has been leading the game from behind the wickets and removing him all of a sudden would not serve the team well.
"The team has two wicketkeepers, Usman Khan and Rizwan. I suggest that wicketkeeping should be done by a senior player," Latif said. "Rizwan was running the game from behind for the last four years [but] now you have removed that guard," he added.
He then talked about the reason why Pakistan have been suffering recently saying that their combination isn’t right and the players should be ready to play according to the match situation.
"They are not getting their combination right, which is their biggest problem. Not only shuffle, but players need to be prepared to play at floating roles now in T20 cricket as per the match situation," Latif added.
Pakistan will begin their World Cup campaign on June 6 at Dallas’ Grand Prairie Stadium against the United States.
Pakistan's T20 World Cup squad
Babar Azam (c), Saim Ayub, Mohammad Rizwan, Azam Khan, Shadab Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Usman Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Abrar Ahmed, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf.
Pakistan's T20 World Cup schedule
June 6: Pakistan vs USA, Dallas
June 9: Pakistan vs India, New York
June 11: Pakistan vs Canada, New York
June 16: Pakistan vs Ireland, Lauderhill
- Rashid Latif
