Pakistan vs Australia 2018: Pakistan Announces T20I Squad, Imad Wasim Added

Pakistan has included spin bowling all-rounder Imad Wasim and Waqas Mahmood to their 15-man T20I squad against Australia. However, Imad had earlier missed the Asia Cup 2018 for Pakistan for failing the yo-yo test. Along with Imad, Pakistan has also recalled the man in form, Mohammad Hafeez to their squad. Meanwhile, the three-match T20I series begins on October 24th in Abu Dhabi.

Imad, Hafeez recalled for Australia T20Is

Speaking of Mohammad Hafeez, the 38-year-old was earlier overlooked for the six-team tournament in the UAE before getting a shock recall to the Test squad. Hitting back at critics, Hafeez hammered a brilliant hundred in the first innings of the Dubai Test against Australia. Though his innings didn’t inspire Pakistan to a win, a brilliant hundred helped Hafeez get back on board.

Amir, Junaid Overlooked

Sarfraz Ahmed, Pakistan’s captain who got slammed for his poor captaincy in the Asia Cup 2018 would lead the side. Meanwhile, Imam-Ul-Haq, who got injured in the Dubai Test would also miss the series. Not only him, but Pakistan has also overlooked the services of ever-lethal Mohammed Amir. However, Amir’s performance in 2018 in the T20Is hasn’t been that bad; in nine games played, Amir has picked 14 wickets at an average of 15.50. Alongside him, experienced players like Junaid Khan and Yasir Shah didn’t find a place as well.

However, the board has backed a few of the youngsters including that of Shaheen Afridi and Asif Ali. Though the pair had bagged a few brownie points in the Asia Cup 2018, they didn’t create a huge impact. Afridi, in particular, excited a few of the analysts, as they seem to call him the future of the Pakistani cricket.

Here is Pakistan’s squad for Australia T20Is –

Sarfraz Ahmed (c & wk), Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Babar Azam, Sahibzada Farhan, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Hussain Talat, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Usman Shinwari, Hasan Ali, Imad Wasim and Faheem Ashraf.