LAHORE – Fast bowlers Junaid Khan and Anwar Ali made their way in as Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Monday announced the 16-member squad for the three One-day internationals against Australia to be played in United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The first match will be held in Sharjah on August 28 while the second will be played in Abu Dhabi on August 31 and the final one-dayer of the three-match series will be in Sharjah on September 3.  Pakistan have left out the senior duo of Younus Khan and Umar Gul for the upcoming Australia series in the UAE. They were dropped due to their poor form as they were struggling since last eight or nine months. Pacer Sami was also dropped from the squad. The team will be led by Misbahul Haq and will play three ODIs and three T20s.
Nasir Jamshed had an impressive time during the Asia Cup but was ruled out of the Sri Lanka series with a fractured index finger. Kamran Akmal, who last played in the 2011 World Cup, is back in the squad after being cleared of any wrongdoing by the integrity committee of the PCB. The keeper had also been earlier named in the Pakistan squad of 15 for the 2012 ICC T20 World Cup.
Kamran and Shoaib Malik have made a comeback into the ODI squad which also features a new name in Anwar Ali. Malik, the former skipper, is back in the reckoning after having been dropped due to poor form following the ODI series against England in February 2012. Anwar Ali is the new face in the team. The 24-year-old swing bowler had impressed in the 2006 U-19 World Cup where he rattled the Indians with a series of unplayable deliveries.  Misbah continues to lead the team which lost 1-4 against Sri Lanka in their last ODI outing. The first ODI will be played at the Sharjah Cricket ground on August 28.
All-rounder Abdul Razzaq and Yasir Hameed deserved inclusion in the team as they are better players than Imran Farhat and any one of them should have been included to strengthen the middle-order batting. Remaining selection is good and it is hoped that Pakistan will clinch the One-day series with ease against the Australian who are struggling presently and also facing injuries problems to their players.
Junaid Khan’s inclusion is very good step from the PCB chief in ODI squad as he also needs induction in the Twenty20 format. He played for Lancashire in T20 and won many matches for them. He bowled superb bowling in the finishing overs of the shorter format of the game. He was included in the 30-member preliminary squad announced for the Twenty20 World Cup but later was omitted from the final 15 list.
PCB Ch Zaka Ashraf, who is working for the betterment of the game in country and also want bringing international cricket back to the country for cricket lovers, considered his case as the cricketing circles of the country was demanding his inclusion in the squad due to his superb performance in the recently-concluded Sri Lankan series where he got 14 wickets including two five-wicket hauls.
Talking to this scribe, Junaid thanked the PCB chief Zaka Ashraf for including him in the team and said that he would try his best to deliver for Pakistan and vowed to continue his hard work on slow wickets.
“I thank PCB Zaka Ashraf for considering my case and including me in the squad. I am hopeful of good show against Australians and I will deliver for my country whenever it will be required,” Junaid hoped.
PAKISTAN ODI SQUAD: Misbahul Haq (capt), Nasir Jamshaid, M Hafeez (vc), Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Kamran Akmal (wk), Shahid Afridi, Sohail Tanveer, Aizaz Cheema, Saeed Ajmal, Imran Farhat, Shoaib Malik, Abdul Rehman, Junaid Khan and Anwar Ali.