KARACHI, Nov 16: Pakistan on Saturday retained Misbah-ul-Haq and Mohammad Hafeez as captains of the ODI and Twenty20 teams respectively while naming pacemen Anwar Ali and Bilawal Bhatti in an extended 17-member squad for the upcoming limited-overs matches in South Africa.
As expected, gangling left-arm fast bowler Mohammad Irfan has been left out after pulling up injured with a hip strain during Friday’s second Twenty20 game which Pakistan lost by six runs to give South Africa a 2-0 series victory.
Irfan, according to a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announcement, will stay back in the UAE to undergo further check-up to ascertain the extent of injury he suffered while bowling his second over. He returned to bat at No. 11, but was visibly in discomfort while running between the wickets.
The PCB has axed left-arm paceman Wahab Riaz, who went wicketless in three ODIs against South Africa, but retained veteran all-rounders Shoaib Malik and Abdul Razzaq who both made an unimpressive return to the national side for the Twenty20s, have been given another chance to strike form along with struggling Shahid Afridi, Umar Akmal and Nasir Jamshed.
Anwar, who played two Twenty20 on the Zimbabwe tour in August after almost five years since his debut, has been added to the squad along with the 22-year-old uncapped pace bowling all-rounder Bilawal Bhatti who has made rapid strides in the ongoing domestic tournaments.
The first of two Twenty20 Internationals of the return series starts on Wednesday at the Wanderers in Johannesburg. Cape Town will host the second Twenty20 on Friday.
The first One-day International will be played in Cape Town on Nov 24, followed by remaining two matches in Port Elizabeth (Nov 27) and Centurion (Nov 30).
This will be the third bilateral ODI series between the two countries this year. Pakistan lost 3-2 against the Proteas in South Africa earlier this year before losing 4-1 in the UAE and are yet to beat South Africa in seven bilateral ODI rubbers.
The just-completed series saw South Africa jump to No. 3 in the ICC Twenty20 rankings, and Pakistan falling to No. 4.
Squad: Misbah-ul-Haq (captain, ODIs), Mohammad Hafeez (captain, T20s), Ahmed Shehzad, Umar Akmal, Asad Shafiq, Umar Amin, Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Shoaib Malik, Sohaib Maqsood, Sohail Tanvir, Anwar Ali, Junaid Khan, Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman, Nasir Jamshed, Bilawal Bhatti.
