Pakistan have named three uncapped players in their squad play in the first two one-day internationals against Zimbabwe.
Left-handed opening batsman Nasir Jamshed and bowler Samiullah Niazi have been rewarded for their performance for the PCB Patron's XI, which beat Zimbabwe by an innings and 34 runs in Karachi.
Jamshed hit 182, Niazi took five wickets and the other uncapped player is all-rounder Kamran Hussain.
"The idea is to use the five one-dayers against Zimbabwe to test out new players without sacrificing the core strength of the team," chief selector Salahuddin Ahmed explained.
Pakistan had already left out experienced pace bowlers Shoiab Akhtar, Umar Gul and Mohammad Sami with Akhtar and Gul ordered to prove their fitness in domestic cricket. Mohammad Asif is still recovering from an elbow operation.
The first one-day game takes place in Karachi on Monday, January 21st.
Pakistan: Shoaib Malik (captain), Younis Khan, Salman Butt, Mohammad Yousuf, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi, Yasir Arafat, Sohail Tanvir, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Nasir Jamshed, Fawad Alam, Rao Iftikhar, Samiullah Niazi, Kamran Hussain and Kamran Akmal.
Cricket World.com – For all the latest international cricket news, reports, live international and county cricket scores; broadband radio and TV; free audio commentary; exclusive interviews, women’s cricket, club cricket, youth cricket and disabled cricket news.
