LAHORE - Left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman and batsman Nasir Jamshed have been left out of Pakistan's squad for the Twenty20s against Sri Lanka in the UAE later this month. Left-arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar, who was not picked for the recently-concluded home and away limited-overs games against South Africa, has been named in the 14-man squad, which will also play a one-off T20 against Afghanistan in the lead-up to the Sri Lanka series.
Middle-order batsman Haris Sohail, who has been on the fringes of the national team but has not played in it since August, makes a comeback. Uncapped Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited opener Sharjeel Khan also earns a call-up.
Veteran all-rounders Abdul Razzaq and Shoaib Malik, who were ruled out of the South Africa games with injury, have not been named. Off-spinner Saeed Ajmal will not play the T20 against Afghanistan on December 8, but will join the team ahead of the two matches against Sri Lanka, scheduled for December 11 and 13.
Rehman played only one of the four T20s against South Africa in November, and was taken for 18 runs in his solitary over. Jamshed played three of the matches, but didn't touch 20 in any of them, nor did he score at over a run a ball.
Sharjeel scored 72 to set up ZTBL's victory in their opening game of the Faysal Bank T-20 Cup last week, and has hit two cameos in successful chases since. He has also been in decent touch in the first-class competition, with 688 runs in 25 Twenty20 matches including an unbeaten century and four half-centuries while playing for Hyderabad Hawks and ZTBL. The former Under-19 international has hit 120 runs with a highest score of 72 in four Twenty20 games this season. In 2011, he was part of Pakistan's squad which competed at the Hong Kong Sixes.
After impressing during the recent matches against South Africa, both home and away, batsman Sohaib Maqsood and bowlers Bilawal Bhatti and Anwar Ali, retain their places in the squad, which will be led by M Hafeez.
SQUAD: M Hafeez (capt), Ahmed Shahzad, Sharjeel Khan, Sohaib Maqsood, Umar Amin, Umar Akmal (wk), Shahid Afridi, Zulfiqar Babar, Bilawal Bhatti, Junaid Khan, Sohail Tanvir, Anwar Ali, Saeed Ajmal, Haris Sohail