Misbah names new-look squads for Australia tour.

Byline: Mohammad Yaqoob

LAHORE -- Following the removal of Sarfraz Ahmed as the Pakistan Test and T20 International captain, the national side's chief selector cum-head coach Misbah-ul-Haq named new-look squads for the team's upcoming tour to Australia.

Pakistan play the Aussies in three T20s - the first on November 3 - and two Test matches later next month.

'A series against Australia has always been a challenging one for us even in our playing days. As the world recognizes the performances of the players given on Australia, England and South African soils, we will hopefully play good, aggressive and competitive cricket as it is lone way to beat Australia with aggressive cricket,' Misbah said in a press conference at the Gaddafi Stadium on Monday.

In the T20 side, set to be lead by middle-order batsman Babar Azam, left-handed batsman Khushdil Shah, pacer Musa Khan and leg-spinner Usman Qadir are the notable inclusions.

More surprisingly, though, 37-year-old lanky left-armer Mohammad Irfan has also made a comeback to the national side after three years.

Batsmen Umar Akmal and Ahmed Shehzad, who were controversial picks in the recent disastrous T20 white-wash of Pakistan by Sri Lanka at home, have yet again faced the axe.

The Test team, skippered by veteran Azhar Ali, also features a host of new names and it is clear that Misbah is looking up to the youngsters to form the core of a team which will kick off its World Test Championship campaign on a tough tour Down Under.

Opener Abid Ali, who has an impressice record of 7000 runs in 104 first-class matches, has finally made it to the Pakistan Test side. The right-hander from Lahore also boasts a hundred against Australia in the first of his four One-day International outings.

Along with Abid, pacers Nasim Shah and Musa have also made the grade for the longest format while slow-left armer Kashif Bhatti has also been named for the what will be a challenging tour for Pakistan.

The 33-year-old Kashif has taken 10 wickets in the current first-class season, while in an 83-match first-class career he boasts 327 wickets.

With Sarfraz out, Mohammad Rizwan will keep wickets for the national side in both series and will be expected to have secured that role for a long run now.

The right-hander has maintained decent record with the bat in domestic cricket and Pakistan 'A' team matches in the last two years. Iftikhar Ahmed has also earned a place in the team after showing consistent form in the domestic...