One of the Thunder's most important players has received a call up to Pakistan's T20 squad for his first international appearance in over six months
Thunder allrounder earns Pakistan recall for T20Is
Pakistan has recalled Sydney Thunder allrounder Shadab Khan in a 15-player squad for next month's T20 series in Sri Lanka.
Shadab, who is playing for the Thunder in the ongoing Big Bash League, hasn't featured in a T20 international since June when he played in the home series against Bangladesh.
The allrounder subsequently underwent shoulder surgery and after rehab, returned to action in the BBL this month.
He will depart the Thunder camp to join his national side in Sri Lanka on January 4 after their home game against the Hurricanes and will return in time for the second Sydney Smash of the season on January 16.
Excited with the news of his callback to the Pakistan side, the 27-year-old said he will look forward to returning to the BBL and make an impact in the back end of the tournament.
"It's a great honour to represent Pakistan and to be selected for the upcoming T20 series." Shadab said in a Thunder statement.
"It's been an incredible experience with Thunder so far and I've felt a lot of support in my time here. I can't wait to come back at the end of the season and hopefully help the team in finals run."
As part of Pakistan's rotation policy before finalising its squad for the T20 World Cup in February and March, the selectors omitted Babar Azam, Haris Rauf and Shaheen Shah Afridi, who are also playing in the BBL.
Pakistan are scheduled to play all their T20 World Cup games in Colombo, with India and Sri Lanka serving as joint hosts of the tournament.
Salman Ali Agha has been retained as captain after leading Pakistan in 34 T20 games this year.
The three-match series in Sri Lanka will be played at Dambulla on January 7, 9 and 11. Pakistan are also scheduled to host Australia for three T20s next month before flying out to Colombo for the T20 World Cup.
Pakistan Squad: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abdul Samad, Abrar Ahmad, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Khawaja Nafay, Mohammad Nawaz, Salman Mirza, Mohammad Wasim, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan, Usman Tariq.