Pakistan on Saturday recalled Mohammad Amir in its T20 squad for the three-match series against South Africa next month.
Amir is the only change in the Pakistan's 15-man squad that whitewashed New Zealand and Australia 3-0 in the United Arab Emirates last year. Amir has replaced fast bowler Waqas Masood.
"We cannot forget that the ICC T20 World Cup is in Australia in the second half of 2020, so we need to give as much exposure and experience to our up and coming players as possible," chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq said.
T20 specialists Asif Ali and Sahibzada Farhan will join the team in South Africa following the one-day series as Imam-ul-Haq, while Mohammad Rizwan and Shan Masood return home.
Asif had a successful Mzansi Super League in South Africa where he scored 150 runs at a strike-rate of over 180 for the Cape Town Blitz.
The T20 series begins on Feb. 1 at Cape Town, followed by matches at Johannesburg (Feb. 3) and Centurion (Feb. 6).
Pakistan T20 Squad: Sarfraz Ahmed (captain), Asif Ali, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Hasan Ali, Hussain Talat, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Hafeez, Sahibzada Farhan, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Usman Shinwari.
(With AP Inputs)
