Two batting guns return for Pakistan

Asad Shafiq and Umar Akmal are set to play their first one-day internationals this year after both were named in Pakistan's ODI squad for their series against the West Indies.

Akmal, who hasn't played ODI cricket since the 2015 World Cup, has been named in a 16-man squad alongside Shafiq, a mainstay of Pakistan's Test side but who hasn't played ODI cricket since last October.

Akmal was recalled to the Twenty20 squad earlier this month after being passed over for five months due to disciplinary problems.

Under-fire captain Azhar Ali has been retained as skipper, despite coming under pressure following their 4-1 series defeat to England earlier this month.

Star leg-spinner Yasir Shah has been retained despite going wicketless in two matches against England, while left-armer spinner Imad Wasim will lead the spin attack having claimed career-best T20 figures of 5-14 against the Windies this week.

Fast-bowlers Sohail Khan and  Rahat Ali also return having missed the England series, while Umar Gul, Sami Aslam, Mohammad Hafeez and Mohammad Irfan all drop out of the squad.

The first in the three-match series will be played in Sharjah on Friday before games on October 2 and October 5.

The series will play a major role in Pakistan's quest for automatic qualification for the 2019 World Cup, with the qualification cut-off date just 12 months away.

Pakistan will start the series in ninth place on the International Cricket Council ODI rankings, eight points behind the eighth-ranked Windies, with only tournament hosts England and the top seven in the standings come the end of September next year automatically qualifying for the tournament.

The remaining two places for the slimmed-down 10-team tournament will be decided at a 2018 qualifying event in Bangladesh.

A 3-0 series victory for the hosts would see them leap ahead of the Windies and into the top eight, while seventh-ranked Bangladesh are also in action in coming weeks, playing a three-match series against tenth-ranked Afghanistan.

Pakistan ODI squad
Azhar Ali, Sharjeel Khan, Babar Azam, Asad Shafiq, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed, Umar Akmal, Mohammad Rizwan, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Nawaz, Yasir Shah, Rahat Ali, Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz, Hasan Ali, Sohail Khan.