Pakistan will hand ODI caps to Sahibzada Farhan, Shamyl Hussain, Abdul Samad and Maaz Sadaqat when Shaheen Shah Afridi leads the team out in Mirpur on Wednesday. It will be the first time since 2008 – and only the second since 1980 – that a Pakistan one-day XI contains four debutants.
Head coach Mike Hesson, who took charge shortly after the Super Eight exit at last year’s T20 World Cup, had signalled the shift. “It is an exciting group,” he said on Monday. “We have got some fresh faces that have done well in the Shaheens. They have earned the right to get some opportunities at the next level. We are excited as a group to involve them. I think our challenge over here is adapting to the pitch quickly. Regardless of what’s thrown at us, we have got to make sure we have got a team ready to challenge Bangladesh in their own conditions.”
In practical terms that promise meant leaving out several established men. Babar Azam, Saim Ayub, Mohammad Nawaz and Naseem Shah are among the senior players rested – or, more bluntly, dropped – after the World Cup disappointment. The selection panel believes fresh energy outweighs short-term risk.
Farhan, 30, last played a List A match in 2024 yet forced his way back through a prolific run of domestic T20 scores. He piled up 383 runs at the recent World Cup – a Pakistan record for a single edition – and Hesson has been adamant that such form “forced his case”.
He is likely to open alongside Shamyl Hussain, 21, one of the brighter cross-format prospects on the local circuit. Hussain finished second on the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy run chart and carries a List A average above 46, scoring at better than a run-a-ball. His uncomplicated method could be useful on Dhaka’s slower pitches.
Abdul Samad, 28, slots into the middle order. Known at home as a six-hitter in T20 leagues, Samad owns a more than respectable List A record – average north of 35, two hundreds – and topped the charts for Pakistan Shaheens during last year’s curtailed tour of England A.
Maaz Sadaqat, at 20 the youngest of the quartet, balances the XI as a left-handed batting all-rounder. He made early waves for Peshawar Zalmi in the PSL and has already notched three domestic one-day hundreds. Pakistan believe his brisk off-spin could be as handy as his stroke-play on turning surfaces.
The move to blood four rookies is bold; whether it is brave or merely unavoidable will be judged by results. Bangladesh, adept in their own conditions, have caused Pakistan problems before. Yet the visitors are adamant the time is right. As Hesson put it, “We have got to make sure we have got a team ready to challenge Bangladesh in their own conditions.”
That task begins tomorrow, with four fresh names on the team sheet and, Pakistan hope, a measure of fresh purpose as well.
