LAHORE, June 16: While Younis Khan and Shoaib Akhtar were recalled to the Pakistan squad, opener Mohammad Hafeez was axed from a 15-member team named on Saturday for a short tour of Scotland next month.

On the tour, Pakistan will play two One-day Internationals, one each against the hosts Scotland (July 1) and arch-rivals India (July 3).

Chief selector Salahuddin Ahmed told Dawn that as there were only two matches on the tour, only two openers — Imran Nazir and Salman Butt — have been retained.

“To strengthen the middle-order batting we have included Younis Khan after he has expressed his availability while pacer Shoaib Akhtar has been given a chance after proving his fitness at the camp in Abbottabad,” the chief selector said, hoping a fit Shoaib would play his due role on the short tour to prove his selection right.

On Younis, Salahuddin said the Mardan-born right-hander was an experienced batsman who would strengthen the middle-order on lively Scotland pitches.

Since Younis is playing in the County Championship, he would join the team from England.

The injury-prone Shoaib will play international cricket for the first time after his short appearance on Pakistan’s last tour to South Africa.

He was also selected to represent Asia in the Afro-Asia Cup held in India in June, however, he later refused to play, saying he was not fit enough.

The PCB will announce the vice-captain on Sunday. Asif was Shoaib Malik’s deputy only for the series against Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi.

Squad: Shoaib Malik (captain), Shahid Afridi, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Yasir Hameed, Fawad Alam, Salman Butt, Imran Nazir, Abdul Razzaq, Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Sami, Mohammad Asif, Umar Gul, Rao Iftikhar.