Younis Khan Back in Pakistan One-Day Squad for England Series
Younis Khan, 37, was discarded from the Pakistan one-day team after a poor tour of New Zealand and the 2015 World Cup in April, where he managed just 77 runs in six matches.
- Agence France-Presse
- Updated: November 05, 2015 06:15 PM IST
Pakistan on Thursday recalled senior batsman Younis Khan in the 16-man squad for the one-day series against England starting later this month, despite reservations over his current form. (Younis Khan Becomes First Pakistan Batsman to Score 9,000 Test Runs)
The 37-year-old batsman was discarded from the one-day team after a poor tour of New Zealand and 2015 World Cup in April, where he managed just 77 runs in six matches.
But chief selector Haroon Rasheed said Pakistan would need his batting experience during the four-match series.
"Obviously his current Test form is good and we need a senior batsman to stabilise our middle order batting," Rasheed told AFP.
Younis has had a see-saw one-day career of 264 matches, having scored only two hundreds in the last seven years, a record that has lead head coach Waqar Younis and support staff to reportedly resisted selecting him.
But Rasheed defending selecting Younis.
"It's not a backward move because we have a few tough series coming up and we need to strengthen our batting. It's up to Younis to adapt to the modern needs of one-day cricket," said Rasheed.
The first of four one-day matches start in Abu Dhabi on November 11.
The squad has uncapped 20-year-old Zafar Gohar who bowls left-arm spin and bats in the lower order, replacing Imad Wasim who is ruled out of the one-day matches with injury.
Pakistan and England will also play three Twenty20 internationals for which a squad will be announced later.
Azhar Ali will lead Pakistan's one-day team.
Pakistan won the three-match Test series 2-0 with a 127-run win in the third and final Test in Sharjah on Thursday.
Squad: Azhar Ali (captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Ahmed Shehzad, Younis Khan, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan, Babar Azam, Yasir Shah, Wahab Riaz, Zafar Gohar, Mohammad Irfan, Rahat Ali, Anwar Ali, Amir Yamin, Bilal Asif