Tim David among contenders to be picked for Pakistan tour

White-ball skipper Aaron Finch has also confirmed David has become a player of national interest

PHOTO COURTESY: PCB

Singapore-born Tim David can potentially be selected in Australia's white-ball squad for the tour of Pakistan.

According to The Age, David is in eyes of the Australian selectors after his impressive performances in the T20 circuit, including HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) season seven where he has scored 234 runs at a strike rate of 205.26 while representing Multan Sultans.

White-ball skipper Aaron Finch has also confirmed David has become a player of national interest and can be picked for Pakistan where the Aussies will play three ODIs and a T20I from March 29 to April 5.

"Even if David cannot break into his first Australia squad for the white-ball leg of the Pakistan tour, there will be more opportunities before the World Cup, starting in October, for him to debut in the green and gold," the publication reported.

It would be for the first time in Australian men's cricket history as David has not played at first-class level and was delisted by his home state Western Australia.

David has played 14 T20Is for his country of birth Singapore but is eligible to play for Australia under international Cricket Council (ICC) rules.

David's father Rod David also played for Singapore, at the 1997 ICC Trophy. His family moved to Singapore from Australia in the 1990s where his father worked as an engineer. They moved back to Australia when David was two years old in the wake of the 1997 Asian financial crisis and he grew up in Perth

“Every team in the world would love a bit more power in their middle order. We’re really lucky with [Marcus] Stoinis, [Glenn] Maxwell, [Daniel] Sams, [Matthew] Wade, Tim David is on the radar, Ashton Turner, these guys all have a lot of power. That’s something most guys get excited about," Finch said before the fourth T20i against Sri Lanka.

It must be noted that due to David's recent performances in HBL PSL 7, the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Mumbai Indians fetched him in a mega auction for INR 8.25 cr for the 2022 IPL season.