LAHORE: Mohammad Amir returned to Pakistan T20 squad on Saturday as the national selectors made just one change for South Africa series from the team that faced Australia and New Zealand in the UAE late last year, axing pacer Waqas Maqsood from the 15-member party.

Waqas was part of the Pakistan team which defeated Australia and New Zealand by identical margin of 3-0 in the T20 series in the UAE but his fate is no different to many other cricketers who were picked for various series earlier but were then dropped by the selectors without getting proper chances. Waqas played only one match against the Kiwis and performed well, taking two wickets at an excellent average of 10.50.

Chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq announced the squad which is quite strong for the T20 format and currently enjoying top position in the ICC rankings.

The T20 games against South Africa are to be played on Feb 1, 3 and 6 in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Centurion respectively.

Asif Ali and Sahibzada Farhan will join the national team in South Africa while the rest of the players are already featuring in the ODI series against South Africa which the hosts lead 2-1.

Imam-ul-Haq, Shan Masood and wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan will return to Pakistan after the ongoing ODI series.

Though both Asif and Farhan have been the part of the Pakistan T20 squad, they have yet to cement their places in the playing XI and make the most of the chances coming their way.

Inzamam, who of late has somehow preferred to announce teams through press releases instead of facing the media, said in a statement on Saturday: “Once again the selectors have gone ahead with the policy of maintaining consistency and retaining a winning combination.

“While our focus is very much on this year’s ICC 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 at hand.”

Squad: Sarfraz Ahmed (captain, wicketkeeper), Asif Ali, Babar Azam, Fahim Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Hasan Ali, Hussain Talat, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Hafeez, Sahibzada Farhan, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Usman Khan Shinwari.

Published in Dawn, January 27th, 2019