LAHORE: Fast bowler Mohammad Amir, who had been dropped for the Test series against Australia, has also been left out of Pakistan’s squad for the subsequent three-T20I series, starting October 24 in Abu Dhabi. Left-arm spinning allrounder Imad Wasim, who had been sidelined from the Asia Cup with injury, has returned to the squad, reported Cricinfo.
Amir’s recent form in international cricket is far from encouraging: he has gone wicketless in his last five ODIs, and has only taken three wickets since the final of last year’s Champions Trophy. Waqas Maqsood, a 30-year-old left-arm seamer from Faisalabad, was called up as a like-for-like replacement for Amir.
Maqsood was rewarded for his impressive performances for Pakistan A against New Zealand A in the three-T20 series. He finished as the second-highest wicket-taker, with five wickets in 10.2 overs at an average of 8.80 and economy rate of 4.25. In all, he has played 19 T20s, taking 20 wickets at an economy rate of 6.58, since his debut in 2011.
Mohammad Nawaz and Haris Sohail, who had been part of the squad for the T20I tri-series in Zimbabwe, made way for Imad and Babar Azam. Opener Sahibzada Farhan, who had bagged a duck on T20I debut against Australia in Harare in July, retained his place in the squad. He is the third opener in the squad behind Fakhar Zaman and Mohammad Hafeez.
T20I squad: Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Sahibzada Farhan, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Hussain Talat, Sarfraz Ahmed (capt &wk), Shadab Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Usman Khan, Hasan Ali, Imad Wasim, Waqas Maqsood, Faheem Ashraf
