Malik to lead Pakistan as Sarfraz given rest in Australia ODI series

KARACHI: The selection committee of the Pakistan Cricket Board has named the 16-member national squad for the upcoming One-day International series against Australia in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) here on Friday.

Chairman PCB selection committee Inzamam-ul-Haq, who announced the team at a media conference, said that captain of the national team Sarfraz Ahmed has been rested for the World Cup as he was under immense pressure of playing too much cricket during the last few months.

He said that in the absence of Sarfraz, veteran cricketer Shoaib Malik will lead the team in the series.

The chief selector said that five other players have also been given rest as they played a lot of cricket during the last five months. These players are Babar Azam, Hasan Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Shaheen Afridi and Shadab Khan while Talat Hussain has been dropped.

Following is the squad:

Shoaib Malik (captain), Shan Masood, Imam-ul-Haq, Haris Sohail, Faheem Ashraf, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Abid Ali, Saad Ali, Umar Akmal, Junaid Khan, Yasir Shah, Usman Shinwari, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Abbas and Mohammad Hasnain.

The five-match ODI series against Australia will be played in UAE, beginning on March 22 in Sharjah and concluding on March 31 in Dubai.