Afridi, Hamad, Zia in Pak's squad for limited over formats
Pakistan's Shahid Afridi (L) during a Twenty20 match in November 2011
© AFP
Pakistan has disclosed the names of their squad who are going to play England in the limited overs’ match for this month beginning on Tuesday, with the newcomer Awais Zia getting a call in to the manifolds of T20I and Hammad Azamis brought back effectively in the ODI squad.
The left handed uncapped Zia is a 25 years old batsman who have had scored about 455 runs in the range of 18 T20 matches he has played. His grace and solid form in the domestic arena helped him bag a call in the national team.
Taufeeq Umar has been left off and the Mohammad Talha is not retained in the squad only because of his injury against the formidable Englishmen.
The former captain, all set to play for the grand Dhaka Gladiators in the exquisite Bangladesh Premier League, but sooner, the idea or contract was snubbed, citing reasons that he needed to serve the country, not satisfy the franchise’s needs.
Shahid Afridi, meanwhile, rejoins the limited-overs fold, citing a preference to play for his country over the Twenty20 club as his reasoning.
"Unfortunately the dates of the league conflict directly with the one-day and Twenty20 series against England. So, I have decided to skip the Bangladesh event as national duty is more important," said Afridi.
"I am looking forward to that series against England, so obviously it was not a difficult choice at all. I am available to play in foreign leagues only when not required on national duty."
ODI squad: Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Younis Khan, Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Hafeez, Imran Farhat, Umar Akmal, Asad Shafiq, Adnan Akmal, Junaid Khan, Umar Gul, Aizaz Cheema, Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman, Wahab Riaz, Hammad Azam, Azhar Ali.
Twenty20 squad: Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Hafeez, Imran Farhat, Umar Akmal, Asad Shafiq, Adnan Akmal, Junaid Khan, Umar Gul, Aizaz Cheema, Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman, Wahab Riaz, Hammad Azam, Awais Zia.
© Cricket Companion
