Saeed Ajmal returns to the Pakistan squad for Bangladesh series
Pakistan off-spinner Saeed Ajmal has made a comeback to the Pakistan squad for their upcoming Test, ODI and T20I series against Bangladesh after last playing international cricket for his country in August 2014. Ajmal was banned from bowling in international cricket last year, owing to an illegal bowling action after it was found that all of his deliveries exceeded the permissible 15-degree limit.
After working closely with former Pakistan great Saqlain Mushtaq on remodifying his action, he was cleared to bowl once again just prior to the start of the World Cup but decided to sit out of the marquee event due to not being confident enough with his new action. He seems to be satisfied now, and it will be interesting to see whether he can have the same effect as earlier.
The 37-year-old has picked up an impressive tally of 178, 183 and 85 wickets from 35 Tests, 111 ODIs and 63 T20Is, respectively.
Umar Akmal, meanwhile, finds himself absent from all the 3 squads after a disappointing World Cup campaign and Ahmed Shehzad, who also had a poor World Cup, has been dropped from the Test and ODI squads.
The other notable feature is the return of Junaid Khan and Mohammad Hafeez, both of whom will significantly bolster the Pakistan team after missing the World Cup due to injuries.
Pakistan Test squad: Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Sami Aslam, Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Haris Sohail, Saeed Ajmal, Yasir Shah, Zulfiqar Babar, Sarfraz Ahmed, Wahab Riaz, Junaid Khan, Sohail Khan, Rahat Ali
Pakistan ODI squad: Sarfraz Ahmed, Mohammad Hafeez, Asad Shafiq, Fawad Alam, Azhar Ali (capt), Mohammad Rizwan, Haris Sohail, Sohaib Maqsood, Sami Aslam, Saeed Ajmal, Yasir Shah, Wahab Riaz, Rahat Ali, Ehsan Adil, Sohail Khan
Pakistan T20 squad: Ahmed Shehzad, Sarfraz Ahmed, Mohammad Hafeez, Mukhtar Ahmed, Sohaib Maqsood, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Rizwan, Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi (capt), Sohail Tanvir, Saad Nasim, Wahab Riaz, Sohail Khan, Umar Gul, Junaid Khan