Haris Sohail has been called as the replacement of unfit Umar Akmal, who was sent back home from England after the right-handed batsman failed the fitness test twice in two days.
Inzamam Ul-Haq, the chief selector of Pakistan cricket team, had earlier said that it would be either Harris Sohail or Umar Amin who would be replacing Akmal in the side and they inked upon the form of Harris.
However, Kamran Akmal, who made a comeback to the side in the series against West Indies could have been the another option due to his experience but selectors did not consider him.
“The NCA trainer conducted the test of all three players and based on the reports submitted by the trainer and upon Pakistan’s team management request Haris Sohail has been selected to replace Umar Akmal for the Champions Trophy to commence from June 1, 2017, in England and Wales,” PCB said in a release.
Haris Sohail played his last ODI for Pakistan against Zimbabwe in Lahore, which also marked the comeback of international cricket in the country after a period of six years.
Haris has been in good form in the Pakistan Cup where he scored 236 runs in five innings at an average of 47.20. However, he failed in the final, as he could score just one run. Despite this, Federal Areas chased own a huge total of 324, with opener Sami Aslam scoring a century in the final.
Haris will be joining the squad soon before Pakistan face Bangladesh in their first warm-up game.
Talking of Umar Akmal, past few months have not been good for him, as fitness issues saw him not being considered for the West Indies series. Following that, he was fined by the board for questioning the whereabouts of Junaid Khan during the time of the toss on live television during Pakistan cup.
Junaid sent an answer to Umar via a video. Later, a committee was formed and both the players were fined for their act.
Pakistan kickoff their Champions Trophy campaign against India on June 4 in Edgbaston.