Tldr; my take on the T20 WC team and how this series fits in. Skip to the playing XIs to avoid the dense text
Our current barebones T20 team looks something like this:
1. Babar Azam
2.
3. Haider Ali
4. Mohammad Hafeez
5. Iftikhar Ahmed
6.
7. Shadab Khan
8. Faheem Ashraf
9.
10.
11. Shaheen Afridi
We need to identify an aggressive keeper who either opens or plays in the middle order, plus a non-keeper who fulfills the same role, plus a spinner plus a new ball bowler.
Best openers in the country (extra points if they’re a keeper even if they’re not as good):
Fakhar Zaman
Sharjeel Khan
Zeeshan Malik
Mohammad Rizwan (wk)
Rohail Nazir (wk)
Zeeshan Ashraf (wk)
Best middle order big hitting batsmen in the country:
Azam Khan (wk)
Asif Ali
Khushdil Shah
Hussain Talat
Best middle order batsmen/finishers in case the aforementioned big hitters don’t work out
Danish Aziz
Best spinners to partner Shadab and Iftikhar (and maybe Hafeez)
Usman Qadir
Imad Wasim
...
Zafar Gohar
Zahid Mehmood
Mohammad Nawaz
Best bowlers in the country who can swing the new ball, to partner Shaheen
Aamer Yamin
Mohammad Hasnain
Haris Rauf
Hassan Ali
My personal picks in each category for the T20 WC are Fakhar, Azam, Usman, and Hassan Ali.
2021 T20 WC
1. Babar Azam
2. Fakhar Zaman
3. Haider Ali
4. Mohammad Hafeez
5. Azam Khan (wk)
6. Iftikhar Ahmed
7. Shadab Khan
8. Faheem Ashraf
9. Hassan Ali
10. Usman Qadir
11. Shaheen Afridi
Shadab and Faheem can be promoted in case of an early collapse, otherwise if there’s a solid foundation laid by Fakhar, Haider, Babar, then Azam Khan can lead the charge in the middle overs partnered by Hafeez, with Iftikhar to finish the job.
This is a team that can take full advantage of the powerplay while batting, recover if it fails to do so, take full advantage of the middle overs (mainly because of Azam and Hafeez), recover if it fails to do so, and hit out at the death.
The bowling is equally versatile. Shaheen and Hassan to take the new ball, Faheem and Shadab to keep it tight in the middle overs, with Usman taking on the role of strike bowler, and Shaheen and Hassan to bowl at the death.
My bench in case of injury will include Mohammad Rizwan, Imad Wasim, Haris Rauf, and Aamer Yamin to make up a 15 man squad.
Now, as far as this SA C team is concerned, we are lucky that Shadab is injured, Hafeez couldn’t make it in time, and Imad is resting. It allows us to check on that second spinner option by playing two new spinners at a time (probably Usman and Zafar) and also try two middle order options at a time (probably Asif and Khushdil).
I would have wanted to try Azam Khan, and give Fakhar another shot, but Rizwan deserves another few games as opener after his previous knock, and it’s a good signal for Azam to get in shape and work even harder (he has a lot of immense talent, so I prefer him staying out of the team and having to put more effort in as that will help his work ethic rather than give him everything on a platter).
So all in all, the stars are lining up as they tend to do with Pakistan cricket sometimes.
My team for the first game against SA C:
1. Mohammad Rizwan (wk)
2. Babar Azam (c)
3. Haider Ali
4. Hussain Talat
5. Iftikhar Ahmed
6. Khushdil Shah
7. Danish Aziz
8. Usman Qadir
9. Aamer Yamin
10. Faheem Ashraf
11. Haris Rauf
I would give Hassan and Shaheen a rest, then bring them in for the second game or in the next series entirely.
In the absence of Azam Khan it’s a good opportunity to give a chance to Hussain Talat and any two out of Khushdil, Danish, and Asif Ali (whoever looks to be the most in form in the nets),
It’s a good opportunity to play Usman Qadir, and if we want to go with two spinners then Zafar Gohar too.
It’s a good opportunity to see who the best new ball bowler is to partner Shaheen.