Iftikhar Ahmed called up to replace Haris Sohail for remainder of NZ ODIs

After Haris Sohail suffered a shoulder injury on the eve of the first ODI against New Zealand, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) verified the scan reports, which turned out to be unsatisfactory, and thus selected allrounder Iftikhar Ahmed as a replacement for the remainder of the ODI series against England. 

Sohail made a comeback to the national side for Pakistan's ODI squad for the first time in three years for a previous series against New Zealand in January and also played three ODIs. But he landed awkwardly on his left shoulder during a fielding drill on the eve of the first game this week and couldn’t feature in the last two games as a result.

His replacement, 32-year-old Iftikhar Ahmed has featured in 10 ODIs so far, but with the highest score of 32 runs, he doesn’t have an encouraging record in the ODIs. With Haris Sohail’s World Cup chances going up in smokes now, Iftikhar will have a chance to make that spot his own, especially with Shan Masood struggling badly. 

Pakistan Squad 

Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (c), Abdullah Shafique, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Agha Salman, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Ihsanullah, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shan Masood, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Wasim Jr