Fast bowler Mohammad Amir was recalled to the T20I roster on Saturday as the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced a 15-man squad for the upcoming 20-over series against South Africa.

Amir's inclusion in place of Waqas Maqsood was the only change to a dominant T20I side that whitewashed both Australia and New Zealand 3-0 late last year.

Meanwhile, Asif Ali and Sahibzada Farhan have reprised their positions in the T20I squad, and will link up with the team in Africa after not being picked for the Tests and the ongoing ODI series.

The hard-hitting Asif comes fresh from a successful stint in South Africa's Mzansi Super League where he scored 150 runs at a strike-rate of over 180 for the Cape Town Blitz. In a 16-match T20I career, Asif has scored 237 runs at a strike-rate of just under 140.

Farhan has scores of 0, 39 and one in his three T20I innings for Pakistan but boasts 452 runs in 22 career T20 matches at a strike-rate of under 110.

“Once again, the selectors have gone ahead with the policy of maintaining consistency and retaining a winning combination," said chief selector Inzamamul Haq.

“While our focus is very much on this year’s ICC Cricket World Cup, we cannot forget that the ICC T20 World Cup is in Australia in the second half of 2020. So, we need to give as much exposure and experience to our up and coming players as possible, but without compromising on the assignments in hand.”

Elsewhere, Imamul Haq, Mohammad Rizwan and Shan Masood will head back home following the conclusion of the ODI series, which South Africa currently lead 2-1.

Full squad:

1. Sarfaraz Ahmed (captain, wicketkeeper)
2. Asif Ali
3. Babar Azam
4. Faheem Ashraf
5. Fakhar Zaman
6. Hasan Ali
7. Hussain Talat
8. Imad Wasim
9. Mohammad Amir
10. Mohammad Hafeez
11. Sahibzada Farhan
12. Shadab Khan
13. Shaheen Afridi
14. Shoaib Malik
15. Usman Shinwari

Match schedule

1 February – 1st T20I, Cape Town 3 February – 2nd T20I, Johannesburg 6 February – 3rd T20I, Centurion