Former captain Shoaib Malik and fast bowler Mohammad Sami have been recalled to the Pakistan one-day squad for the three-match series against Zimbabwe starting on Tuesday.
Malik, 33, played the last of his 216 one-dayers in the 2013 Champions Trophy against India, and 34-year-old Sami has not been part of an ODI squad since June 2012.
Both were part of the Twenty20 squad that sealed a 2-0 series win over Zimbabwe on Sunday as Pakistan welcomed top-level international cricket back to the country after a six-year absence after militants attacked a Sri Lanka team bus in 2009.
Off-spinner Saeed Ajmal was left out for the matches at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) also remained optimistic of playing arch-rivals India in a full series in the UAE or another mutually agreed venue in December.
“PCB is now expecting the government of India’s permission for the revival of the series in the near future, particularly after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s public indication that his government would support the revival of the cricket series,” the Pakistan board said in a statement.
ODI squad: Azhar Ali (captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Ahmed Shehzad, Asad Shafiq, Haris Sohail, Shoaib Malik, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Sarfraz Ahmed (wicketkeeper), Anwar Ali, Hammad Azam, Imad Wasim, Yasir Shah, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Sami, Junaid Khan.
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