Pakistan have included uncapped batsman Umar Amin in a 15-man squad for the one-day series against Sri Lanka this month. "Amin has been rewarded for his excellent performances in domestic cricket," a Pakistan Cricket Board said on Monday. The left-handed batsman is expected to be given a chance to fill the void created by the defection of senior batsman Mohammad Yousuf to the unofficial Indian Cricket League.
The Pakistan selectors included fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, who is still entangled in a court battle with the board over the 18-month ban and seven million rupees fine imposed last year for disciplinary reasons. An appeal by Shoaib is pending in the Lahore high court and he has been able to continue playing after the court suspended the ban until the appeal was decided.
The first one-dayer is on January 21 with further games in Lahore and Multan. Sri Lanka will also return in February to play two tests in Karachi and Lahore. They were invited for the unscheduled tour by the Pakistan board after India cancelled a test series in the wake of the Mumbai attacks.
Squad: Shoaib Malik (captain), Khurrum Manzoor, Salman Butt, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Umar Amin, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Rao Iftikhar, Sohail Khan, Sohail Tanvir, Saeed Ajmal, Yasir Arafat.