LAHORE: Pakistan cricket selectors, headed by former Test captain Inzmamaul Haq, on Thursday left out fast bowler Mohammad Amir from Pakistan’s 15-man Twenty20 international squad to face Australia while uncapped left-arm quick Waqas Maqsood earned a call-up. Amir, who was handed a five-year ban for spot-fixing in 2011 and returned to international cricket two years ago, had been omitted from the squad for the ongoing Test series due to his patchy form. All-rounder Mohammad Hafeez has also made his way back in the squad. Amir’s recent form in international cricket is far from encouraging: he has gone wicketless in his last five ODIs, and has only taken three wickets since the final of last year’s ICC Champions Trophy. Maqsood has been rewarded for his impressive performances for Pakistan A against New Zealand A in the three-T20 series. He finished as the second-highest wicket-taker, with five wickets in 10.2 overs at an average of 8.80 and economy rate of 4.25. In all, he has played 19 T20s, taking 20 wickets at an economy rate of 6.58, since his debut in 2011. Earlier this year, Maqsood had been the top wicket-taker in the 50-over Pakistan Cup, claiming 14 wickets in five games for Federal Areas. Mohammad Nawaz and Haris Sohail, who had been part of the squad for the T20I tri-series in Zimbabwe, made way for Imad Wasim and Babar Azam. Opener Sahibzada Farhan, who had bagged a duck on T20I debut against Australia in Harare in July, retained his place in the squad. He is the third opener in the squad behind Fakhar Zaman and Hafeez. “Maqsood has been drafted in the T20 squad after his recent performances in domestic cricket and playing for Pakistan ‘A’ team in the recent series against New Zealand,” chief selector Inzamam said. “Similarly, Imad makes a comeback in the team after his form and fitness was monitored by the selection committee during the current domestic matches.” Pakistan and Australia will play three T20s with the first match on Oct. 24 in Abu Dhabi. The second and third games of the series will be played in Dubai on Oct. 26 and 28. Squad: Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Sahibzada Farhan, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Hussain Talat, Sarfraz Ahmed (captain/wk), Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan Shinwari, Hassan Ali, Imad Wasim, Waqas Maqsood and Faheem Ashraf. Published in Daily Times, October 19th 2018.