Mohammad Hafeez has been added to the Pakistan’s One-Day International squad for the five-match series in Australia, the Pakistan Cricket Board confirmed on Sunday (January 8). The all-rounder has been included after a request from captain Azhar Ali and coach Mickey Arthur.
“The selection committee headed by Inzamam-ul-Haq today received a request from Pakistan team management comprising coach Mickey Arthur and captain Azhar Ali for sending Mohammad Hafeez to Australia for the ODI series,” the board said in a release. “The selection committee has decided to accept the request of the team management and chairman of the PCB has approved the same. Hafeez will join the team shortly as the 16th member in Australia.”
Hafeez, who has now been cleared to bowl by the International Cricket Council, was overlooked in the original squad following a poor run in domestic cricket where he scored 248 runs at an average of 31 in the one-day cup. He was dropped from the squad after the series in England last year and didn’t feature in the series against the West Indies, New Zealand and the Tests against Australia.
Pakistan play the first ODI in Brisbane on January 13 before heading to Melbourne, Perth, Sydney and Adelaide for the remaining games. They lost the preceding three-match Test series 0-3.
Pakistan ODI Squad
Azhar Ali(c), Sharjeel Khan, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Mohammad Rizwan, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz, Hasan Ali, Rahat Ali, Mohammad Irfan, Sarfraz Ahmed, Mohammad Hafeez
. The all-rounder has been included after a request from captain Azhar Ali and coach Mickey Arthur.){kind=link}