Shoaib Malik earns a spot in Pakistan’s World Cup T20 squad by outperforming expectations.

Shoaib Malik, Pakistan’s veteran opening batsman, has been called up to the Twenty20 World Cup squad in place of Sohaib Maqsood.

As a result, Pakistan’s Twenty20 World Cup squad now includes veteran batsman Shoaib Malik in place of Sohaib Maqsood, who is out with a back injury. The 39-year-old batsman is in fine form in Pakistan’s National Twenty20 tournament, where he has 225 runs in seven games and has been called upon by supporters to be included. Malik, who retired from international cricket two years ago and from test cricket in 2015, has said he will call it a day after the Twenty20 World Cup if he is selected. Pakistan announced its 15-man World Cup squad last month and made three changes on Friday, including the inclusion of Maqsood, who must prove his fitness before being named to the squad.

Mohammad Wasim, the head selector, said Maqsood had been ruled out by doctors.

According to doctors’ orders, Sohaib has been forced to withdraw from the T20 World Cup, and after consulting with the team’s management, it was decided to include Malik in the squad instead.

Malik led Pakistan to victory in the inaugural T20 World Cup in the 2007 and 2009 final.

Against England in September of last year, he played his final of 116 T20 internationals.

On October 15, the Pakistani team will fly to Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

On October 17, the World Cup will get underway in Oman and the United Arab Emirates. On October 24, Pakistan will play a high-octane game in Dubai against archrivals India to open their campaign.

Azam’s squad has been updated to include: Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Imad Wasim, Hafeez Mohammad, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Junior, Sarfaraz Ahmed, and Shoaib Malik.

Khushdil Shah, Shahnawaz Dahani, and Usman Qadir are the three available reservists.