Pakistan's New Leadership for Asian Games Cricket Campaign

Pakistan will head to the Asian Games with a new-look leadership group and a squad that says plenty between the lines.

Sahibzada Farhan has been handed the captaincy, with Abdul Samad named his deputy, as the selectors opted for a youthful, fringe-heavy group and left out some of the country’s biggest modern-day names. There is no Babar Azam. No Shaheen Afridi. No Haris Rauf. No Naseem Shah.

Whether they have been rested or quietly moved down the pecking order has not been clarified, but the message is unmistakable: this is a different kind of campaign.

Camp in Karachi, ticket to Japan

The squad assembled in Karachi on Sunday and will dive straight into a short, sharp training camp running from Monday, September 21, to Thursday, September 14. It’s an unusual calendar quirk, but the plan is clear: three intense days together, then wheels up for Japan on Thursday night.

Five players will arrive late. Usman Khan, Saim Ayub, Maaz Sadaqat, Hasan Nawaz and Sufyan Moqim are tied up with franchise duties and are expected to join after completing their Caribbean Premier League (CPL) commitments, which run through to the final. Their late entry means the coaching staff will have to knit the group together quickly, with very little time for full-squad rehearsals.

Farhan’s side will carry the hopes of a country that still treats any multi-nation event with deep emotional weight, even when the squad sheet looks more developmental than star-studded.

Asian Games draw sets up a familiar tension

The men’s cricket competition at the Asian Games begins on Monday, September 24, with India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh all handed direct passage to the quarter-finals.

The draw has done what administrators often try to do: keep India and Pakistan apart for as long as possible, then let the story write itself. The two rivals cannot meet in the semi-finals. Any clash will come only with a medal on the line — either in the bronze match or the gold-medal final.

Both teams will play their quarter-finals on Monday, September 28, stepping in at the same stage but with very different approaches.

Where Pakistan have gone experimental, India have gone heavy. The BCCI has named a full-strength squad, with Shreyas Iyer to captain and Jasprit Bumrah, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Tilak Varma all included. VVS Laxman will coach the contingent, while Gautam Gambhir focuses on the upcoming ODI series against the West Indies.

If the two sides do collide in Japan, it will be a clash between India’s established core and Pakistan’s hungry understudies.

Pakistan’s 15 for the Asian Games

• Sahibzada Farhan (captain)
• Abdul Samad (vice-captain)
• Abrar Ahmed
• Ahmed Daniyal
• Akif Javed
• Ali Raza
• Arafat Minhas
• Haider Ali
• Hasan Nawaz
• Maaz Sadaqat
• Mohammad Wasim Jnr
• Saad Masood
• Saim Ayub
• Sufyan Moqim
• Usman Khan (wicket-keeper)

There is enough talent here to cause trouble. Enough inexperience to cause nerves. And just enough intrigue to make one wonder: is this simply a rest for the old guard, or the first rehearsal for a very different Pakistan?