Babar, Shaheen back as Pakistan unveil squad for Australia T20Is

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Friday named a 16-member squad for the upcoming three-match T20I series against Australia, starting on 29 January.

The series will be played at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, from 29 January to 1 February. The games will start at 4pm PKT with the coin toss set to take place at 3.30pm PST.

Babar Azam and Shaheen Shah Afridi have returned to the T20I squad after missing the three-match away series against Sri Lanka in January.

Shadab Khan will continue to build on his comeback in the previous T20I series and will form part of a strong spin-bowling contingent along with Abrar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz and Usman Tariq.

Pakistan squad and player support personnel are expected to convene in Lahore on Saturday, 24 January and will begin their preparations for the series the following day.

Australia are set to arrive in Pakistan on Wednesday, 28 February and will play just their second series in the format on Pakistan soil after a solitary T20I in April 2022 at Gaddafi Stadium.

Pakistan squad for Australia series

Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Khawaja Mohammad Nafay (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan (wk), Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan (wk) and Usman Tariq

Player support personnel: Naveed Akram Cheema (team manager), Mike Hesson (head coach), Ashley Noffke (bowling coach), Shane McDermott (fielding coach), Hanif Malik (batting coach), Cliffe Deacon (physiotherapist), Grant Luden (strength and conditioning coach), Talha Ejaz (performance analyst), Syed Naeem Ahmed (media manager), Lt. Col. (r) Usman Anwari (security manager), Dr Wajid Ali Rafai (team doctor), Dr Raheel Karim (psychiatrist) and Muhammad Ehsan (masseur)