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Haider Ali, who played a sensational knock in his debut T20I match against England in September, has been not selected in the 15-member squad for the first ODI match against Zimbabwe scheduled on Friday in Rawalpindi.

Well, apart from him, Senior batsman, Mohammad Hafeez was also not picked though both of them were named in the preliminary squad.

Haider Ali has done well in the domestic fold:

Vice-captain Shadab Khan has sustained an injury so he has been overlooked while Abdullah Shafique, who had shown promising performance in the National T20 cup for Central Punjab, has also not been considered.

Star Of England Tour, Haider Ali Left Out From Pakistan's 15-Man Squad For First ODI Against Zimbawe 1 — Haider Ali with his teammate. Image Credit: Twitter.

Meanwhile, Babar Azam will first time lead the Green Army in the 50-over format. He has expressed that he wants to start his captaincy stint in ODIs with a winning note. The young captain also added that they are not taking Zimbabwe lightly.

“I’m keen on winning the ODIs as this is my first series as captain,” said Azam.

“No team is easy in international cricket so we won’t take Zimbabwe lightly.”

Pakistan squad: Babar Azam (captain), Imamul Haq, Abid Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Faheem Ashraf, Imad Wasim, Usman Qadir, Wahab Riaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Musa Khan.

Pakistan will host the full tour in Rawalpindi:

Babar Azam, Pakistan — Babar Azam (Image Credit: Twitter)

All the matches will be played in Rawalpindi because of smog in Lahore. The teams have already followed the mandatory quarantine period in Rawalpindi and the matches will be played behind closed doors due to the pandemic.