Pakistan include two rookies in Twenty20 squad

Pakistan have included two uncapped players, Mohammad Aamer and Shahzaib Hasan, in the 15-member squad for the ICC World Twenty20 in England in June.

Aamer, the left-arm fast bowler, was included after a very strong showing in his maiden domestic season, taking 56 first-class wickets in ten games for Rawalpindi. The 17-year-old Aamer also took 25 wickets in 15 one-dayers and was initially included in the squad for the Bangladesh tour which was postponed.

He was also a part of the Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia last year but his tournament was cut short by illness. For the greater part of last year, he has been - alongside Mohammad Talha - the most talked-up pace prospect in Pakistan circles, a stamp of approval from fellow leftie Wasim Akram no doubt helping.

Hasan, 19, is a diminutive opening batsman, and he too has enjoyed very healthy returns in his debut first-class season, scoring 607 runs in ten matches for Karachi Blues at the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. In one-dayers, he has scored 250 runs in seven games at a strike rate of 96.11.

There are few surprises in the squad otherwise. No doubt, Shoaib Akhtar's inclusion, in light of his tired displays against Australia - he didn't once bowl ten overs in the four games he played - will be debated. Rao Iftikhar Anjum, who's been one of Pakistan's leading ODI bowlers over the last two years in the one-dayers: in the last 12 months he has taken 21 wickets in 14 games. However, a wicketless showing in the two matches he played against Australia in the UAE ultimately hindered his case.

Squad: Younis Khan (capt), Salman Butt, Ahmed Shehzad, Shoaib Malik, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal (wk), Fawad Alam, Shoaib Akhtar, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul, Mohammad Aamer, Yasir Arafat, Saeed Ajmal, Shahzaib Hasan