Dubai: Pakistan has announced their team for the five-match One Day International series against Sri Lanka commencing from October 13 at Dubai International stadium amid heavy criticism against chief selector Inzamam Ul Haq.
The 15-man squad include the uncapped batsman Imam-ul-Haq, who is the nephew of Inzamam. Announcing the squad Inzamam said: “Imam-ul-Haq has been selected in the squad, keeping his performance in the domestic circuit, and to give a chance to a youngster in home conditions.”
Imam’s selection has evoked criticism in the media and cricket circles in Pakistan as the selection committee has preferred this 21-year-old batsman over Sami Aslam, who scored two centuries in the 50-over Pakistan Cup and boasts of a better domestic record. He has also scored eight centuries in List A games and his 2,522 runs in 43 games have come at a strike-rate of 87.29 and an average of 48.50.
Imam has scored 848 runs at 49.88 last season, with three hundreds including a double-century for Habib Bank Limited. He has played 13 List A games this year, averaging 31.84 with three half-centuries.
Pakistan also left out their former ODI captain Azhar Ali citing that he needs to manage his workload. It understood that he is yet to fully recover from a knee injury and has been taking injection to be free of pain during this Test series.
The five one day matches will be held in Dubai (October 16) and in Abu Dhabi (October 16 and 18) and Sharjah (October 20 and 23)
Team: Ahmad Shehzad, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed (capt), Imad Wasim, Shahdab Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Mohammed Amir, Ruman Raees, Junaid Khan, Haris Sohail, Imam-ul-Haq.
