Hafeez & Malik recalled for T20Is

Pakistan recalled veterans Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik, but surprisingly dropped pacemen Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz from the 15-man squad for the three-match Twenty20 series against Bangladesh starting next week.

The squad announced by chief selector and head coach Misbah-ul-Haq is a total revamp to the team which lost 3-0 to Sri Lanka in October last year, and then 2-0 to Australia in November.

It comes as Pakistan hopes to hang on to its world number one rankings in the shorter format as well as prepare for the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia in nine months.

Eight players who were part of the squad in the Australia Twenty20 series have been dropped.

The three matches are scheduled in Lahore on January 24, 25 and 27. Bangladesh will also play a one-day international and two Tests on two separate visits to Pakistan.

Squad: Babar Azam (C), Ahsan Ali, Amad Butt, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Khusdil Shah, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Rizwan, Musa Khan, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Usman Qadir.