Afridi returns back to Pak squad for Windies tour

Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi is back in the national squad for their tour of the West Indies to play in a limited-over series this month, although former captain Shoaib Malik, wicket-keeper batsman Kamran Akmal and opener Imran Farhat have received the axe.

According to Sport24, the selectors made four changes in the one-day team which crashed out of last month's eight-nation ICC Champions Trophy, losing all three games due to sloppy batting and failing to cross the 170-mark in any of their games.

The report further said that Malik managed just 25 runs in three matches, Kamran scored 23 in the same number and Farhat scored four in two, therefore their axing from the squad for the Caribbean tour.

Stating that the 16-man one-day and 15-member Twenty20 squads were selected after discussion with the team management, chief selector Iqbal Qasim said that Afridi has been given one more chance despite being dropped from the one-day squad twice in the last six months after he failed to impress with both bat and ball.

According to Qasim, they have selected Afridi as per the requirement for the West Indies tour where they need a leg-spinner, adding that the all-rounder is one of the physically fittest players.

According to the report, Afridi, who was first discarded for the one-day leg of the India tour in January before making a comeback on the South Africa tour, but was left out again for the Trophy, has not taken a single wicket in his last six one-day matches.

Misbah-ul Haq will lead the one-day team while Mohammad Hafeez will skipper the Twenty20 side, with Qasim adding that they have selected separate squads after consulting with the captain and coach Dav Whatmore.

The squad will play five one-day and two T20 internationals in the Caribbean, with the first one-day match in Guyana on July 14, the report added.

Squad (one-day): Misbah (captain), Hafeez, Nasir Jamshed, Ahmed Shahzad, Asad Shafiq, Afridi, Umar Akmal, Umar Amin, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Irfan, Asad Ali, Junaid Khan, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Saeed Ajmal and Abdul Rehman

Squad (Twenty20): Hafeez (captain), Ahmed Shahzad, Nasir Jamshed, Afridi, Umar Akmal, Sohail, Hammad Azam, Sohail Tanveer, Riaz, Asad Ali, Mohammad Irfan, Junaid Khan, Amin, Ajmal and Zulfiqar Babar.