Sharjeel Khan returns back to Pakistan T20I squad for South Africa, Zimbabwe tours

Opener Sharjeel Khan made his comeback to the Pakistan T20I squad after 4 years as the Pakistan cricket board announced squads of all three formats to tour South Africa and Zimbabwe. Pakistan all-rounders Mohammad Hafeez and Shadab Khan have also returned to the T20I squad.

Sharjeel Khan was banned from all cricket for 5 years; later on subsequent appeals, the ban was reduced to a suspension. His recall comes at the back of a prolific run in the National T20 Cup, where he scored 233 runs.

"Sharjeel Khan has also staged a comeback in the T20I squad," said chief selector Mohammad Wasim said. "Although he is exactly not where we want him to be, he is not too far away. With the form he has recently shown in the domestic T20 events, he deserves an opportunity to further



improve his fitness and show he still has that ability to win big matches for Pakistan.

"Aamer Yamin, Amad Butt and Kamran Ghulam are unlucky to miss out on selections," said Wasim. "Aamer and Amad have paved the way for Mohammad Hafeez and Shadab Khan in the T20I squad, while Kamran has narrowly missed out to Salman Ali Agha and Saud Shakeel in the Test side. However, the three are in the larger pool of players and will get their opportunity at some stage as we have a busy year of cricket ahead of us."

T20I Squad: Babar Azam (C), Shadab Khan (vc), Sharjeel Khan, Mohammad Hafeez, Haider Ali, Danish Aziz, Asif Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Waseem Jr, Mohammad Rizwan, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Hasan Ali, Arshad Iqbal, Usman Qadir.