Pakistan’s head coach-cum-chief selector Misbahul Haq took an ambitious approach and selected several fresh faces in the Twenty20 International (T20I) squad for the upcoming Australia tour.

Among those new names, Usman Qadir’s inclusion left fans confused as the leg-spinner in his recent interviews had expressed his desire to represent Australia.

“My goal is to play for Australia in the 2020 T20 World Cup. If I get the opportunity to play for Australia in a Test or one-day cricket, I would love that," said Qadir. “In Pakistan I didn't play lots of cricket. That's why I did not get opportunities. So that's why I moved to Australia."

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Qadir, son of the late former Pakistan cricketer Abdul Qadir, played for Perth Scorchers in the 2019/20 season of the Big Bash League (BBL) and also represented Australia Prime Minister's XI against South Africa last year.

However, Pakistan fans on Twitter questioned Qadir’s inclusion in the T20I squad.

Misbah is particularly impressed with Qadir’s bowling and wants to make use of his experience of having played in Australia.

“Usman is playing T20 cricket, and we saw a spark in his bowling and we think that his bowling got the potential and variation," said Misbah. “We are facing an issue as we don't have considerable backup in the wrist spin department, so considering this and his experience of playing Big Bash in Australia, Usman has been selected for the Australian tour.”

“I haven’t heard anything [about Usman Qadir applying for Australian nationality]. He is playing cricket in Pakistan and is here. If he is playing here and if we feel he can be a future prospect, we will back him,” he added.

The T20I side will depart for Sydney on 26 October, while the Test players will leave for Perth after featuring in the fifth round of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, which will be played from 28-31 October.