Pakistan vs England ODI Series: Squads

Pakistan vs England ODI Series: Squads: Jubilant Pakistan announced its ODI squad for the ongoing bilateral series against England currently being played at the UAE. Pakistan are on good form these days beating England 2-0 in the third test to seal the series. Veteran cricketer Younis Khan, who is playing brilliantly at tests over the last few months, made a surprise return to Pakistan’s limited over side after a long hiatus.

Cricketer Younis Khan, highest test run-getter from Pakistan, was dropped from ODIs owing to his poor performance at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 held earlier this year. He managed to score just 43 runs in 3 matches and disappointed a lot of his ardent fans and Pakistan dressing room as well. In hindsight, it was definitely a prudent decision to include him in ODIs to strengthen the middle order considering Khan’s vast experience and immense batting potential.

According to Haroon Rashid, chief selector of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), “Younis Khan has been included in the ODI squad to provide more stability to the Pakistan middle order in the limited over match. Now it is up to Younis to prove that he could meet the demands of the modern-day one-day cricket and play according to the team management’s game plan,” he added.

Younis Khan had scored just a one century in the last 7 years revealing his failure to play big knocks at the shorter formats. However, his test form has been phenomenal as he scored 8 hundreds in his last 15 tests at an impressive average of around 69.

Pakistan’s performance in ODI has improved dramatically following their complete surrender to Bangladesh 3-0 earlier this year. But Pakistan made a strong comeback winning the next 3 ODI series in a row beating Sri-Lanka and Zimbabwe.

The young Pakistan team will be headed by Azhar Ali in the upcoming ODI matches while wicketkeeper batsman Sarfraz Ahmed will don the vice-captain’s cap. Pakistan is set to play 4-ODI-match series against England at the UAE later this month.

England had also announced its ODI team with Eoin Morgan as the skipper. Following their 3-test series defeat against Pakistan, the English cricketers are desperate to turn things in their favor. It’s definitely going to be an exhilarating contest between these two teams this season.

Pakistan ODI squad: 

Azhar Ali (Captain), Ahmed Shehzad, Sarfraz Ahmed, Mohammad Hafeez, Younus Khan, Shoaib Malik, Babar Azam, Bilal Asif, Anwar Ali, Aamir Yamin, Yasir Shah, Zafar Gohar, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Irfan and Rahat Ali.

England ODI Squad

Eoin Morgan (Captain), Jonny Bairstow (W & K), Moeen Ali, Sam Billings, Steven Finn, Jos Buttler, Alex Hales, Chris Woakes, David Willey, Reece Topley, Joe Root, Adil Rashid, Jason Roy