Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah return for Pakistan's white-ball series in Australia

Pakistan have recalled Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah for next month’s white-ball series in Australia.

Babar was dropped for the last two Test matches against England for his indifferent form in red-ball cricket while Afridi and Naseem were rested as Pakistan went for an all-spin attack to beat the tourists 2-1.

The former captain's axing came after the PCB changed its selection panel after the first Test. Red-ball coach Jason Gillespie was not included in that panel, neither was captain Shan Masood. Former umpire Aleem Dar is part of the committee.

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Gillespie admitted during the series he is now a coach for match-day strategy.

Speaking to Sky Sports, the former Aussie quick backed Babar to return to the Test side but wasn't able to give a definitive answer around his future.

"I cannot answer that because I am not a selector," he said.

"What I will say is Babar is a fine player, I think he's one of the best players in the world. He had a bit of a lean patch but I don't think there's many great players around that never had a lean patch.

Pakistan opens its white-ball series in Australia with the first ODI in Melbourne on November 4.

Adelaide and Perth will host the remaining two ODIs before Brisbane, Sydney and Hobart host three T20s from November 14-18.

Babar, Afridi and Naseem will be rested for the three ODIs and three T20s in Zimbabwe with the selectors picking several top performers from domestic white-ball cricket.

Pakistan will play all six white-ball games against Zimbabwe at Bulawayo from November 24 to December 5.

The Pakistan Cricket Board didn’t name a white-ball captain for the twin tours, but said PCB chariman Mohsin Naqvi will announce the skipper later.

Surprisingly the PCB didn’t give any reason why Fakhar Zaman and Imam-ul-Haq were not included in any of its four white-ball squads.

Both left-handed batters were earlier also omitted from the list of 25 players who were offered central contracts by the PCB.

All-rounder Shadab Khan and Iftikhar Ahmed are the other notable white-ball players who have been left out.

Fast bowler Mohammad Hasnain was recalled after his recent stellar performance in the domestic Champions Cup one-day tournament in which he took 17 wickets. Hasnain played his last international against New Zealand in January 2023 but was sidelined after sustaining an ankle injury during the Sri Lanka Premier League last year.

Australia tour squads:

ODIs: Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Faisal Akram, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Rizwan, Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi

T20s: Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan, Jahandad Khan, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Rizwan (WK), Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Omair Bin Yousuf, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufyan Moqim, Usman Khan