It was previously reported that Naseem Shah was withdrawn from the U-19 World Cup squad over age issues but the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has released a press-release denying the claims.
The PCB said:
The Pakistan Cricket Board rejects the impression in a section of the media which suggests that fast-bowler Naseem Shah had been withdrawn from the Pakistan U19 squad for next month’s ICC U19 Cricket World Cup due to concerns over his actual age.
The controversy was fueled when Pakistan picked the teenager for the series against Australia and the international journalists claimed his age to be other.
Responding to the rumors, PCB further added:
The PCB, as part of its standard operating procedures, had rechecked and verified ages of all potential members of the Pakistan U19 side in November before selecting the squad on 6 December 2019 subsequent to which Naseem was named in the side after he met the ICC age eligibility criteria for the tournament, which was set at 1 September 2000.
Additionally, the PCB said that Naseem has been withdrawn upon the request of the senior team management.
The PCB, as stated in its announcement on 31 December, had clarified that Naseem had been withdrawn from the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup on the request of the Pakistan men’s senior team management purely on cricketing reasons.
