Karachi: 19-year old batsman Umar Amin has been rewarded for his impact on the domestic season with a call-up to Pakistan's 15-man squad for the first ODI against Sri Lanka on January 21 in Karachi. The team, the first picked by a new-look selection committee headed by Abdul Qadir, has gone back to traditional Pakistani strength, pace, but is not entirely without surprise.
"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.
But there are some surprises in this squad, prime among them the exclusion Nasir Jamshed. Arguably Pakistan's find of a lean year in 2008, Jamshed has been overlooked despite being in the runs domestically. Jamshed missed the Abu Dhabi matches after pulling out at the last minute with an illness and was replaced by Khurram Manzoor.
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 (c), Salman Butt, Younis Khan, Shahid Afridi, Misbah-ul-Haq (vc), Kamran Akmal (wk), Sohail Tanvir, Shoaib Akhtar, Umar Gul, Iftikhar Anjum, Saeed Ajmal, Khurram Manzoor, Sohail Khan, Yasir Arafat, Umar Amin.