Pakistan recalls Sami and Malik for 2 Twenty20s against Zimbabwe this week
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP)_ Fast bowler Mohammad Sami was recalled by Pakistan on Tuesday after almost three years away for the two-match Twenty20 series against Zimbabwe this week.
Sami, 34, played the last of his five T20s against Sri Lanka in June 2012.
Allrounder Shoaib Malik, who last competed for Pakistan in the World Twenty20 in Bangladesh last year, also returned in a 15-man squad after leading the Sialkot Stallions to the domestic T20 title on Monday.
Middle-order batsman Umar Akmal, who failed to impress in the Cricket World Cup, was summoned for the T20s on Friday and Sunday after being omitted from the recent series in Bangladesh.
Two uncapped players, Immad Wasim and Noman Anwar, were rewarded for impressive domestic performances.
Zimbabwe arrived early Tuesday amid tight security to play five limited-overs matches, all in Lahore, at Gaddafi Stadium.
Zimbabwe is the first test-playing nation to tour Pakistan in six years, following the deadly gun attack on the Sri Lanka team convoy in 2009, also in Lahore.
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Pakistan: Shahid Afridi (captain), Sarfaraz Ahmed, Ahmed Shehzad, Mohammad Hafeez, Mukhtar Ahmed, Noman Anwar, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Mohammad Rizwan, Anwar Ali, Hammad Azam, Immad Wasim, Bilawal Bhatti, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Sami.
