Pakistan name Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz in final World Cup squad

The two fast bowlers have been called up after Pakistan's seam attack struggled against England during the recent one-day international series, conceding scores in excess of 340 on four occasions in a row

Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz have both been selected in Pakistan's World Cup squad, having not been named in the preliminary group.

The two fast bowlers have been called up after Pakistan's seam attack struggled against England during the recent one-day international series, conceding scores in excess of 340 on four occasions in a row.

Amir, who has recently recovered from chickenpox, had been on standby after missing out on the initial 15-man party.

He comes into the squad in place of Junaid Khan, while Wahab Riaz replaces Faheem Ashraf. Abid Ali misses out, too, with Asif Ali promoted to the full setup after impressing with two half-centuries during the England series.

^{Wahab Riaz is in the Pakistan World Cup squad}

Riaz will link up with the squad on May 22, while Amir returned to gym work on Saturday and Sunday, and will soon be ready to rejoin his teammates in full training after his illness.

Chairman of the Pakistan selection committee, Inzamam-ul-Haq, said: "Junaid and Faheem had been originally preferred over a few other bowlers based on their recent performances and the investment we had made on them since 2017.

"They had the opportunity to cement their Word Cup spots, but they were well below-par in the series against England even though they were up against the difficult challenge of bowling on placid and batsmen-friendly wickets.

"After it became obvious that the bat is likely to dominate the ball in the World Cup, we revisited our strategy and reverted to the pace of Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz. Furthermore, Amir and Wahab give the fast bowling attack more experience to back and support the relatively inexperienced but immensely talent Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mohammad Hasnain."

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