LAHORE: The national selectors on Tuesday recal­led experienced fast bowler Umar Gul and opener Shar­jeel Khan besides inducting young pacer Hasan Ali, all-rounder Mohammad Nawaz and opener Sami Aslam in the 15-member ODI squad named for the two-match One-day International series against Ireland and the five-match contest against England.

Pacers Umar and Mohammad Irfan fought hard to make it to the ODI squad but in the end Umar edged Irfan due to his better fitness record. Both Umar and Irfan have remained injury prone over the years but the selectors reposed their confidence in Umar to strengthen the fast bowling department which also features Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz and newcomer Hasan Ali.

Umar had last played for Pakistan in April 2015 against Bangladesh in Bangladesh.

Hasan, Nawaz, Sami named in 15-man squad

As far Hasan and Nawaz, both will make their debuts in ODIs with the later already appearing in two T20 matches. On the other hand, Hasan has made it for the first time to any national squad.

Rahat Ali, who was part of the last ODI series against New Zealand and also bowled well in the ongoing Test series against England, has been ruled out for the upcoming ODI series against Ireland and England with Ehsan Adil and Junaid Khan being the other prominent bowlers failing to find a place in the squad.

Overall, the selectors have made five changes in the ODI squad which played against New Zealand in the three-match series in New Zealand early this year with opener Ahmed Shehzad, middle-order batsman Sohaib Maqsood, pacers Anwar Ali, Irfan and Rahat all getting the axe.

In place of Shehzad, upcoming opener Sami who played superbly in the third Test against England, scoring half-centuries in both the innings, has been inducted while opener Sharjeel who performed well in the recently-concluded tour of England with Pakistan A team to finish as top run-getter with 253 runs at an averages 67.25, has also been included as opener with ODI captain Azhar Ali.

Hafeez, who opened the innings with Azhar in New Zealand, has been retained as a middle-order batsman. The experienced batsman is going through a bad patch in the England Test series and is facing severe criticism of his poor form but the selectors have still named him in the squad for reasons best known to them.

Babar Azam, who excelled in the series against the Kiwis with 145 runs in two matches, features in the middle-order while Sohaib Maqsood has failed to make the grade.

Eperienced all-rounder Shoaib Malik has also been included in the middle-order with both Sarfraz Ahmed and Mohammad Rizwan earning their places as wicket-keeper batsmen.

The fast bowling department looks a blend of experience and young blood with right-arm pacer Hasan being included for his impressive performance for Pakistan ‘A’ team against England.

According to PCB spokesman, the team was picked by chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq after watching the players in the on-going Test series against England. “Chief selector Inzamam in consultation with the national selection committee has finalised the 15-member ODI team for the Ireland and England ODIs. While picking the squad, the team management and skipper were consulted and all concerned gave their consent in this regard,” he said.

“The team has been selected keeping in mind the conditions and the recent performances of some players in domestic and on A Team tours. The team is a fine blend of experience and youth and the selectors believe that team will do well in the ODIs.”

Pakistan team will play two ODIs against Ireland on Aug 18 and 20 in Ireland and will then return to England to play five ODIs on Aug 24 in Ageas Bowl, Aug 27 at Lord’s, Aug 30 at Trent Bridge, Sept 1 at Headingley and Sept 4 at Cardiff.

Squad: Azhar Ali (captain), Sharjeel Khan, Sami Aslam, Mohammad Hafeez, Baber Azam, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmad, Mohammad Rizwan, Immad Wasim, Yasir Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz, Hasan Ali, Umer Gul.

Published in Dawn, August 10th, 2016