ISLAMABAD: Pakistan captain Babar Azam is hoping Haris Rauf will regain full fitness after a shoulder injury and make an impact at next month’s T20 World Cup.

Fast bowler Rauf has been included in an 18-man squad for the upcoming tours of Ireland and England, with Pakistan delaying its 15-strong party for the World Cup in the United States and West Indies until May 22.

The fitness of Rauf, Mohammad Rizwan, Irfan Khan and Azam Khan will be assessed during the seven T20s against Ireland and England.

“I wasn’t expecting that he (Rauf) would recover so early and start bowling again,” Babar told reporters in Lahore on Monday as the team prepared to fly out to Ireland, where the first T20 will be played in Dublin on Friday.

“There’s pressure on him to make a comeback. There’s lot of talk going around on his injury and how he will respond to it. But I think he will make a good response because when you give yourself proper rest mentally and physically, you can make a different impact.”

Rauf has been out since dislocating his shoulder in late February during the Pakistan Super League. Since then he has gone through rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore.

The seven-member selection committee, which also includes Babar, have named fast bowler Hasan Ali, who last played a T20 international in 2022, as backup for Rauf.

Babar backed the inclusion of Hasan after pace bowlers Zaman Khan, Mohammad Wasim and the PSL’s top wicket-taker Mohammad Ali were omitted.

“There’s no injustice with anyone. We debated a lot on the World Cup combination and Hasan is there as backup for Rauf because of his experience,” Babar said. “Zaman and Ali are new-ball bowlers but we already have enough new-ball bowling options.”

Fast bowler Mohammad Amir, who played in two T20s against New Zealand after ending his retirement, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah and Abbas Afridi are Pakistan’s pace options.

Under Babar, Pakistan has done well in the last two T20 World Cups, reaching the semifinals in 2021 at the United Arab Emirates and losing to England in the final at the 2022 tournament in Australia.

The chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, Mohsin Naqvi, has promised a cash award of $100,000 to every player if the team wins the tournament.

“What happened in the past is in the past, unfortunately we couldn’t finish the way we wanted,” Babar said. “We’re doubly confident and believe we can bring the trophy home.”

Pakistan starts its campaign against host United States in Dallas on June 6 before taking on arch-rival India in New York three days later.

White-ball head coach Gary Kirsten will likely join the team in England after completing his Indian Premier League assignment with Gujarat Titans.

KARACHI: Pakistan’s benchmark share index closed at another all-time high by registering a 1.2 percent gain as bulls celebrated the arrival of a high-level investment delegation from Saudi Arabia, analysts said on Monday.

The KSE-100 index witnessed a bullish trend, gaining an intraday high of 1,158.65 points that marked a 1.61 percent increase. It closed at 72,764.24 points, up by 1.20 percent.

Stock analysts said the major contributing factor behind the bullish close was the arrival of a 50-member Saudi business delegation in Pakistan for potential investments and a drop in inflation.

“Today’s all the bullish activity was because of the Saudi delegation visiting Pakistan to explore investment opportunities,” Sheheryar Butt, portfolio manager at Darson Securities, told Arab News. 

The delegation, led by Saudi Arabia’s Assistant Minister of Investment Ibrahim Al-Mubarak, arrived in Pakistan on Sunday. It comprises representatives of some 30 Saudi companies from the fields of IT, telecom, energy, aviation, construction, mining exploration, agriculture and human resource development.

Butt said the encouraging remarks by the visiting Saudi investment minister on Monday also played a key role in keeping the market in the green zone.

Addressing an investment summit in Islamabad, the Saudi minister said Pakistan was a “high priority” economic opportunity and the Kingdom believed in the potential of Pakistan’s economy, demographics and talent as well as location and natural resources.

Speaking at the summit, Pakistan Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said foreign investment was vital to macroeconomic stability in Pakistan and the visit of Saudi investors was a link in this chain.

Auzrangzeb said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s successful visit to Saudi Arabia opened the way for economic cooperation between the two countries.

“The visit of a delegation of Saudi investors to Pakistan is also a part of paving the way for this economic cooperation,” the minister said. “The government is now moving toward privatization and PIA [Pakistan International Airlines] will also be privatized.”

He said export-led growth, foreign direct investment (FDI) and excess to capital were top priorities of the government, and it was working on short, medium and long-term strategies as well as structural economic reforms.

Ali Nawaz, CEO of Chase Securities, attributed the bullish trend at the stock market to the arrival of the Saudi investment delegation.

“This news likely injected optimism into the market as it suggests potential for increased foreign investment, bolstering investor confidence,” Nawaz said.

Other factors, he said, included a decline in inflation that fueled a positive sentiment.

“Lower inflation rates typically indicate a healthier economic environment, fostering expectations of potential interest rate cuts in the future,” he added.