Senior players Babar Azam and Shaheen Shah Afridi have returned to the Pakistan team for the T20I series against Australia this month, as national selectors on Friday announced the 16-member squad.

The duo were left out of the squad for the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka earlier this month, where all-rounder Shadab Khan made his comeback.

He will form part of a strong spin-bowling contingent along with Abrar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz and Usman Tariq, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said in a statement today.

The matches will take place at Lahore’s Gadaffi Stadium on January 29, 31 and February 1 and will begin at 4pm PKT.

Pakistan squad and player support personnel are expected to convene in Lahore on Jan 24 and will begin their preparations for the series the following day, PCB said today.

Meanwhile, Australia is set to arrive in Pakistan on January 28 and will play just their second series in the format on Pakistani soil after a solitary T20I in April 2022, also at Gaddafi Stadium.

A day earlier, Babar announced that he would miss the remainder of the Big Bash League in Australia since he had been recalled to Pakistan for a national team camp ahead of the T20I series.

Australia announced their 17-player squad earlier this week and have rested five top players, including Pat Cummins, Glenn Maxwell, Josh Hazlewood, Tim David and Nathan Ellis.

16-member Pakistan squad:

Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Khawaja Mohammad Nafay (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan (wk), Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan (wk) and Usman Tariq

Player support personnel:

Naveed Akram Cheema (team manager), Mike Hesson (head coach), Ashley Noffke (bowling coach), Shane McDermott (fielding coach), Hanif Malik (batting coach), Cliffe Deacon (physiotherapist), Grant Luden (strength and conditioning coach), Talha Ejaz (performance analyst), Syed Naeem Ahmed (media manager), Lt. Col. (r) Usman Anwari (security manager), Dr Wajid Ali Rafai (team doctor), Dr Raheel Karim (psychiatrist) and Muhammad Ehsan (masseur)

Series schedule: (All matches at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore)

1st T20I: Thursday, January 29 — 4pm PKT

2nd T20I: Saturday, January 31 — 4pm PKT

3rd T20I: Sunday, February 1 — 4pm PKT