Fast bowler Afridi back in Pakistan squad for white-ball series against West Indies in US
The three Twenty20 matches in the U.S. — on July 31, Aug. 2 and 3 — will be followed by three ODI games in Trinidad and Tobago.
Afridi, who is also in the ODI squad, was surprisingly excluded from Pakistan's last two T20 series against Bangladesh despite leading Lahore Qalandars to its third Pakistan Super League title in the last four years with a rich haul of 19 wickets this year.
In Afridi's absence, Pakistan routed Bangladesh 3-0 at home but lost 2-1 to Bangladesh at Dhaka in a series which ended Thursday.
Fast bowler Haris Rauf, who was forced to miss the series against Bangladesh because of a hamstring injury he sustained during Major League Cricket (MLC) in the U.S., has recovered and was named in the T20 squad.
Pakistan's pace attack was further strengthened Friday with the return of Hasan Ali for both T20s and ODIs against West Indies.
The selectors dropped pace bowlers Abbas Afridi and Salman Mirza, who both participated in the T20 series in Bangladesh, and retained all-rounders Hussain Talat and Mohammad Nawaz.
Middle-order batter Hasan Nawaz is the only uncapped player named in the ODI squad. Nawaz scored Pakistan's fastest-ever T20 century against New Zealand in March this year.
Salman Ali Agha will continue to lead the T20 side while wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan was named skipper for the ODI series.
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Pakistan:
Twenty20 squad: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Nawaz, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem.
ODI squad: Mohammad Rizwan (captain), Salman Ali Agha, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem.
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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
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