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Pakistan name rookie paceman for Zim tour

Karachi - Rookie paceman Imran Khan junior was on Wednesday rewarded for his excellent bowling in Pakistani domestic cricket with a first-time inclusion in the national Twenty20 squad for the tour of Zimbabwe.

The 27-year-old took 16 wickets to help Peshawar defend the National Twenty20 title in Rawalpindi on Tuesday, claiming his second successive best bowler award after also winning it in 2014.

"We have rewarded some outstanding performers in the recently concluded tournament and Imran was one of them," chief selector Haroon Rasheed said in a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) release.

The 25-year-old uncapped pace bowling all-rounder Amir Yamin was also included for the two Twenty20 matches in Harare on September 27 and 29.

Shahid Afridi will lead the Twenty20 side while Azhar Ali will be the skipper for the three one-day matches on October 1, 3 and 5 - all in Harare.

Veteran batsman Younis Khan was not selected after a poor run of scores in the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in February-March this year.

Another senior member, spinner Saeed Ajmal, was also overlooked after failing to impress since returning earlier with a remodelled action from a ban.

Ajmal's action was reported as suspect in August last year and he was subsequently suspended. He was cleared to bowl again in February this year but had a poor limited-overs series in Bangladesh earlier this year and was dropped.

Batsman Sohaib Maqsood returned to both squads after injuring his arm before the tour of Bangladesh.

T20 squad: Shahid Afridi (captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Ahmed Shehzad, Mukhtar Ahmed, Umar Akmal, Sohaib Maqsood, Shoaib Malik, Amir Yamin, Mohammad Irfan, Bilal Asif, Wahab Riaz, Imad Wasim, Sohail Tanvir, Mohammad Rizwan, Imran Khan junior

One-day squad: Azhar Ali (captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Ahmed Shehzad, Sohaib Maqsood, Shoaib Malik, Babar Azam, Sarfraz Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan, Immad Wasim, Anwar Ali, Wahab Riaz, Yasir Shah, Rahat Ali, Mohammad Irfan, Asad Shafiq

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