LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is set to announce a 15-man provisional squad for the ICC World Cup 2023 on Tuesday, sources said on Sunday.
The PCB was advised to announce the final squad after the Asia Cup and because of that, they will send the names of the initial squad to the ICC by September 5.
The Selection Committee has already done its initial consultation over the World Cup squad.
Middle-order batter Saud Shakeel is likely to be a part of the contingent while Faheem Ashraf and Abdullah Shafique may not make the list, sources added.
After submitting the provisional squad, the management of the participant countries can make changes to their squad without any permission from the International Cricket Council (ICC) till September 28.
But if they have to make any change after the given date, they will require permission from the international cricket body.
Pakistan's likely provisional squad
Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan (vc), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Saud Shakeel, Agha Salman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Mohammad Wasim Jr., Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi.
It must be noted that 10 teams will fight for the elusive title across 10 venues from October 5 to November 19, with the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad hosting the tournament opener and the final.
The Cricket World Cup will be played in a round-robin format with all teams playing against each other for a total of 45 league matches.
The top four teams will qualify for the semifinals, which will be held in Mumbai on November 15 and in Kolkata on November 16. The semi-finals and the final will have reserve days.
Here is Pakistan's schedule for the ICC World Cup 2023:
October 6 - vs Netherlands in Hyderabad
October 10 - vs Sri Lanka in Hyderabad
October 14 - vs India in Ahmedabad
October 20 - vs Australia in Bengaluru
October 23 - vs Afghanistan in Chennai
October 27 - vs South Africa in Chennai
October 31 - vs Bangladesh in Kolkata
November 4 - vs New Zealand Bengaluru (Day match)
November 11 - vs England in Kolkata
The day matches which will start at 10:00am Pakistan Standard Time (PST) while all other matches will be day-night fixtures starting at 01:30pm (PST).
Sohail Imran Sohail Imran is a senior reporter for Geo News.
