Pakistan ‘rest’ Imad, Sarfraz for WI series

KARACHI: Pakistan selectors Thursday rested some senior players, including former captains Shoaib Malik and Sarfraz Ahmed, for their limited over home series against the West Indies to be played later this month.

Fast bowler Hasan Ali and spinning allrounder Imad Wasim will also not be part of the Twenty20 and One-day International squads.

Prolific batsman Babar Azam will continue to lead the side.

Chief selector Mohammad Wasim said the players needed rest. “We have been playing T20Is since October and now have a pretty settled and balanced side, so we have decided to rest Imad, Sarfraz and Malik,” Wasim said in a Pakistan Cricket Board release.

“In consultation with Hasan Ali and taking into consideration that he has been playing non-stop cricket since returning from a back injury, we have decided to give him time off from this series,” he said.

Young fast bowler Mohammad Hasnain returns to the squad after missing the Twenty20 World Cup and the series in Bangladesh.

From the 17 players who were available for selection for the England ODIs in July, Asif Ali, Haider Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah and Mohammad Wasim Jnr have replaced Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Salman Ali Agha and Sarfraz Ahmed in the 17-member side.

Abdullah Shafique, who struck two fifties in the first Test of the ongoing series in Bangladesh, has been named as a traveling reserve.

West Indies will play three Twenty20 Internationals (December 13, 14 and 16) and as many One-day Internationals (December 18, 20 and 22). All six matches will be played at National Stadium in Karachi.

The T20I matches will count towards the ICC T20I rankings, while the ODIs will be part of the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Super League.

Squad: (T20Is): Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shahnawaz Dahani, Usman Qadir

ODIS: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan, Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imam-ul-Haq, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Mohammad Hasnain, Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shahnawaz Dahani, Usman Qadir. Traveling reserve: Abdullah Shafique.