The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) selectors on Tuesday dropped seasoned campaigners Mohammed Hafeez and Yasir Shah from the Sarfraz Ahmed-led 16 member squad for the Asia Cup, which is to be played in the United Arab Emirates from September 15.
The selection committee headed by the new PCB chairman Ehsan Mani has however added a couple of rookies in 18-year-old pacer Shaheen Afridi and opener Shan Masood for the six-nation tournament.
The rest of the squad remains unchanged from Pakistan's last five-match One-day International (ODI) series against Zimbabwe.
Pakistan begins their Asia Cup campaign with a league game against the winner of the ongoing Asia Cup Qualifier on September 16 before facing arch-rivals India on September 19.
Pakistan squad for Asia Cup: Sarfraz Ahmed (Captain), Fakhar Zaman, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Amir, Shadab Khan, Imam ul Haq, Shan Masood, Babar Azam, Asif Ali, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Nawaz, Fahim Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Junaid Khan, Usman Shinwari, Shaheen Afridi.
India have also announced their squad and their 16-member squad and it will be Rohit Sharma who will lead the Men in Blue. Skipper Kohli has been rested he is being kept in shape for the upcoming tours which feature West Indies and Australia.
Kedhar Jadhav returns to the squad after suffering an injury during the 2018 Indian Premier League in April. Ambati Rayudu also makes his return after clearing the Yo-Yo test for the second time. The BCCI has also included uncapped pacer Khaleel Ahmed in the squad.
Death over specialist Bhuvneshwar Kumar makes his return to the squad after he missed the tour of England due to injury. The pacer has been declared fit by the Indian cricket board.
India squad for Asia Cup: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Ambati Rayudu, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shardul Thakur and Khaleel Ahmed
