Babar Azam returns for Pakistan ODIs vs Australia; Mohammad Rizwan dropped

KARACHI: Star batter Babar Azam is back in Pakistan's 16-man squad to face Australia in the three-match ODI series starting next week as the selectors announced the squad on Friday.Babar missed Pakistan's last ODI series against Bangladesh with a fitness issue in March. He recently scored 588 runs in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and won first title as a captain earlier this month. Fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi will continue to captain the side, with Salman Ali Agha named new vice-captain for this series. Along with Babar Azam, three key members for Pakistan-Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah and Shadab Khan are back in the squad who all missed the Bangladesh tour. Left-arm spinner Sufyan Moqim also made a comeback in the ODI squad.Fast bowler Ahmed Daniyal, spinning allrounder Arafat Minhas and wicketkeeper batter Rohail Nazir set for debut in the ODI. Nazir will be a deputy to first-choice keeper Muhammad Ghazi Ghori. Experienced openers Fakhar Zaman and Saim Ayub will miss Australia ODIs due to injuries.While the former Pakistan captain Mohammad Rizwan is dropped from the squad who has been the leading run-scorer for Pakistan since the conclusion of 2023 Cricket World Cup. He was part of Pakistan's 2-match test squad against Bangaldesh where his fighting 94 was not enough for the team as Bangladesh clean sweeped Pakistan for 2nd time in Test Cricket.The Australian team will arrive in Islamabad on May 23, although they are yet to annouce their squad for the series. The first match will be played in Rawalpindi (May 30), while Lahore will host the other two matches on June 2 and 4.The series will give both teams a chance to build their squad for the 2027 ODI World Cup which will be co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.Pakistan ODI squad:Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain), Salman Ali Agha (vc), Abdul Samad, Abrar Ahmed, Ahmed Daniyal, Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Maaz Sadaqat, Ghazi Ghori(wk), Naseem Shah, Rohail Nazir(wk), Sahibzada Farhan, Shadab Khan, Shamyl Hussain, Sufyan Moqim