Fakhar Zaman replaces Usman Qadir in Pakistan squad

Qadir, who is yet to recover from a thumb injury, takes his place as a travelling reserve alongside reserve batter Mohammad Haris and seamer Shahnawaz Dahani

Fakhar Zaman has replaced Usman Qadir in Pakistan's squad for the T20 World Cup, with Qadir dropping onto the list of travelling reserves.

The swap comes with the leg-spinner yet to recover from a hairline fracture on his right thumb suffered last month during the T20I series against England, though his initial selection had come a something of a surprise in any case, having only featured once in the Asia Cup and struggled against England.

He is set to be unavailable until October 22 at the earliest, which would rule him out of Pakistan's warmup matches against England and Afghanistan, with the decision taken to promote Fakhar in his place for the duration of the tournament, although Qadir could still be recalled as an injury replacement once the World Cup gets underway.

The move to replace him with Fakhar, who has recovered from a knee injury, comes amid scrutiny surrounding Pakistan's batting: beneath the outstanding opening partnership of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, the middle-order incumbents have struggled for runs, with Fakhar considered a possible answer to those struggles.

^{Qadir hasn't yet recovered from a broken thumb (Asif Hassan/AFP via Getty Images)}

He made an unbeaten half century against Australia in the semi-final of last year's T20 World Cup and will fly into Brisbane on Saturday from London along with Shaheen Shah Afridi.

Qadir, meanwhile, takes his place as a travelling reserve alongside reserve batter Mohammad Haris and seamer Shahnawaz Dahani, leaving Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz as the only specialist spinners in Pakistan's 15-man party.

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