Islamabad: Pakistan middle-order batsmen Umar Akmal and Asad Shafiq have been recalled for the three-match One Day International series against the West Indies in the UAE.
Sharjah will host the first two ODIs on September 30 and October 2 while the third ODI will be played at Abu Dhabi on October 5.
Akmal has missed Pakistan’s last eight ODI series after he was dropped following the 2015 World Cup due to inconsistent performances and indiscipline. But the hard-hitting middle-order batsman forced his way back into the national squad when he top scored in the recent National T20 Cup and also played in the Twenty20 series against the West Indies.
Shafiq last played an ODI against Zimbabwe in October 2015 but impressed the selectors prompting a recall for limited-overs cricket after scoring 310 runs at an average of 51.66 in the National T20 Cup.
The selectors have dropped opening batsman Sami Aslam and Umar Gul, who were part of the Pakistan ODI team that was beaten 4-1 by England.
The Pakistan Cricket Board has provided Azhar Ali another chance to lead the ODI squad team despite his run of poor results. Wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed, who leads Pakistan in Twenty20, will be Azhar’s deputy in the ODI series.
Ali replaced Misbah-ul-Haq as ODI captain after the World Cup last year, but was whitewashed by Bangladesh in his first series as captain. Since then he has twice lost the series against England and once to New Zealand while recording victories against Sri Lanka and lowly ranked Zimbabwe and Ireland.
