Haider Ali, Abdullah Shafique cut from squad for Friday's 1st ODI against Zimbabwe

Veteran Mohammad Hafeez and National T20 starlets Abdullah Shafique and Haider Ali were among the notable absentees as the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) named a rather strong 15-man squad for Friday's opening match of the ODI series against Zimbabwe. 

Shafique had turned heads during the recently concluded domestic tournament whereas Haider had made his name with his debut half century against England. 

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However, both were cut as head coach Misbah-ul-Haq preferred proven, established quality over experimentation.

Mohammad Hafeez, who was also excellent in the National T20 Cup, also missed out as so do young wicketkeeper Rohail Nazir, vice-captain Shadab Khan (injury), spinner Zafar Gohar and pacer Mohammad Hasnain.

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Pakistan squad for 1st ODI against Zimbabwe:

Imam-ul-Haq, Abid Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam (c), Haris Sohail, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Faheem Ashraf, Imad Wasim, Usman Qadir, Wahab Riaz, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Musa Khan