Pakistan vs Sri Lanka: Hosts announce the 15-man squad for the ODI series

Pakistan is set to host Sri Lanka at home for a three-match ODI series starting on September 27. All the matches of the series will be played in Karachi with the three T20 Internationals to follow which Lahore will host. The hosts have now announced the 15-man squad for the 50-over contest with some notable names. This is also the first assignment of Pakistan’s new coach-cum-selector Misbah-ul-Haq.

The all-rounder Mohammad Nawaz and the batsman Iftikhar Ahmed have earned call-ups to the national team for the series. Nawaz played the Asia Cup last year but he failed to justify the all-rounder and eventually lost his place in the side, while Iftikhar played two ODIs back in 2015 and was out of the reckoning since then. However, both of them have been awarded for their impressive show in the domestic arena.

Nawaz scored an unbeaten ton in the last week’s first-class game against Khyber Pakhtunkhwa which worked in his favour. Iftikhar, on the other hand, slammed two centuries and a fifty in three successive innings in the domestic 50-over competition in April this year.

Hafeez dropped while Shaheen and Hasan Ali injured

Mohammad Hafeez is the notable name missing from the squad which featured in the World Cup. He didn’t have a great tournament in England and it seems that the management has decided to move on from him. Shoaib Malik retired from the ODIs after the mega event while Shaheen Afridi and Hasan Ali too are not the part of the squad.

While the left-arm pacer is down with Dengue, Hasan continues to struggle with his troubled back. The latter also had a lukewarm World Cup which had led to him losing his place from the XI during the competition. Apart from Nawaz and Iftikhar, Usman Khan and Abid Ali have also returned to the setup while Junaid Khan has once again missed out on making the cut.

Pakistan ODI squad: Sarfaraz Ahmed (c), Babar Azam, Abid Ali, Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Hasnain, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan Shinwari, Wahab Riaz.

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