Karachi: Pakistani selectors have ignored senior players Shoaib Malik and Abdul Razzaq while announcing the T20 squad for the match against Afghanistan and the series against Sri Lanka in the United Arab Emirates.
The only changes in the T20 squad that played recently against South Africa was the return of left-arm spinner, Zulfiqar Babar and the selection of uncapped opener Sharjeel Khan. Malik and Razzaq had been recalled to the national side after long layoffs for the series against South Africa but both returned home from South Africa without playing a match due to fitness issues.
Interestingly, although Malik has appeared for his departmental side, PIA, in the ongoing national T20 event in Lahore and also scored runs while proving his fitness, he was still ignored by the selectors for the match against Afghanistan on December 8 and the two games against Sri Lanka on December 11 and 13 in the UAE.
Babar missed the limited over series against South Africa recently because of an injury while Sharjeel, a left-handed opener, has been in prolific form for his department in the domestic season. The selectors have also recalled young batsman, Haris Sohailf for the three T20 matches.
The Pakistan cricket board also announced that off spinner, Saeed Ajmal would not play the match against Afghanistan due to domestic reasons but would join the team for the Sri Lanka matches.
Pakistan T20 squad: Muhammad Hafeez (Capt), Sharjeel Khan, Ahmed Shahzad, Sohaib Maqsood, Umer Amin, Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi, Zulfiqar Babar, Bilawal Bhatti, Junaid Khan, Sohail Tanvir, Anwar Ali, Saeed Ajmal and Haris Sohail.
