Pakistan Announce T20 Squad Against South Africa, In-Form Hafeez Dropped

In-form batsman Mohammad Hafeez and struggling opener Fakhar Zaman are absentees from the Pakistan squad named by selectors Sunday for the Twenty20 international series against South Africa next month

Waseem said current form, as well as this year's Twenty20 World Cup in India, were considered for selection.

Zaman was in poor form, having managed just 97 runs in his last ten matches. He also missed the Twenty20 series in New Zealand in December following a positive Covid-19 test.

Babar Azam will lead the squad, which also sees comebacks for pacer Hasan Ali, all-rounder Aamer Yamin and batsman Asif Ali.

Uncapped leg-spinner Zahid Mahmood, all-rounder Amad Butt and batsman Danish Aziz are also part of the 20-man squad, while pacer Wahab Riaz is left out.

Pakistan lead the two-match Test series 1-0 after beating South Africa by seven wickets in Karachi on Friday.

They begin the second Test in Rawalpindi on Thursday.

Pakistan T20 Squad: Babar Azam (captain), Haider Ali, Khushdil Shah, Hussian Talat, Danish Aziz, Asif Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Zafar Gohar, Faheem Ashraf, Aamer Yamin, Amad Butt, Mohammad Rizwan, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hussain, Hasan Ali, Usman Qadir, Zahid Mahmood