PCB announces Pakistan’s T20I squad for Australia series; Babar Azam & Shaheen Afridi return

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), on Friday, January 23, unveiled its 16-man squad for the forthcoming three-match T20I series against Australia, starting on Thursday, January 29, at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.

Notably, Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi have made their comeback to the T20I setup after missing out on Pakistan’s recent T20I series in Sri Lanka. However, Mohammad Rizwan continues to be sidelined from the squad.

The 16-member squad will be led by Salman Ali Agha, with Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, and Faheem Ashraf forming the pace battery. On the other hand, Shadab will lead the spin attack, which also includes Abrar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, and Usman Tariq. 

Pakistan will clash against Australia in three T20Is ahead of the mega event in India and Sri Lanka. The series opener will be played on January 29, with the second match set to be played on January 31 and the third match on February 1. All three games will be played in Lahore.

Before this series, Pakistan locked horns with Sri Lanka in a three-match T20I series earlier this month, levelling it 1-1 with one game ending in a no-result. Prior to that, Pakistan played a home tri-series with the Men In Green coming out on top ahead of Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe.

Pakistan T20I squad: Salman Ali Agha (c), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Khawaja Mohammad Nafay, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan, Usman Tariq.

Australia T20I squad: Mitch Marsh (c), Sean Abbott, Xavier Bartlett, Mahli Beardman, Cooper Connolly, Ben Dwarshuis, Jack Edwards, Cameron Green, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Mitch Owen, Josh Philippe, Matthew Renshaw, Matt Short, Marcus Stonis, Adam Zampa.

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