ISLAMABAD (AP) Pakistan selectors on Monday rewarded three performers in its domestic T20 tournament with places in the three-match Twenty20 international series against the West Indies next month.
Uncapped batsmen Asif Ali and Hussain Talat along with rookie 17-year-old left-arm fast bowler Shaheen Afridi were named in the 15-man squad.
Asif and Hussain scored 213 and 203 runs respectively for champions Islamabad United in the Pakistan Super League while Shaheen picked up seven wickets for Lahore Qalandars in seven PSL matches.
Left-arm fast bowlers Usman Shinwari and Rahat Ali were recalled to the Twenty20 format. Surprisingly selectors have retained opening batsman Ahmed Shehzad, who only scored 173 runs in the PSL for Multan Sultans in 10 games.
West Indies is scheduled to play three T20s in Karachi on April 1-3 as the Pakistan Cricket Board aims to win back the confidence of foreign teams that it's safe to play in Pakistan.
Several foreign players from New Zealand, South Africa, West Indies and England including Luke Ronchi, JP Duminy, Darren Sammy and Chris Jordan played in Sunday's PSL final at Karachi, which hosted a high profile match for the first time in nine years.
Islamabad United, led by Duminy, defeated Sammy's Peshawar Zalmi by three wickets to regain the PSL trophy in front of a capacity crowd at the National Stadium.
Asif scored an entertaining 26 off just six balls that included three successive sixes off fast bowler Hasan Ali to guide Islamabad home in the final.
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Squad: Sarfraz Ahmed (captain), Ahmed Shehzad, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Hussain Talat, Faheem Ashraf, Muhammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Amir, Hasan Ali, Rahat Ali, Usman Khan, Shaheen Afridi.
