Mohd Irfan, Malik retained in Pak ODI squad

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said on Saturday that left arm pacer Mohammad Irfan and experienced allrounder Shoaib Malik would remain in India with the national squad for the three-match One-day series, beginning in Chennai on Sunday.

The PCB announced in a statement that the national selection committee had accepted a request from the tour management to retain Malik and Irfan in the One-day squad.

"These two players will now also be part of the One-day squad in India," the statement said.

Malik and Irfan were originally only selected in the national Twenty20 squad for the two matches in India that ended in a 1-1 draw on Friday.

But after Malik scored a match winning half-century in the first T20 at Bangalore and Irfan impressed everyone with his bowling in both the games, speculations were rife the two players would also be retained for the ODI series.

Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi, however, could not manage to win the confidence of the team management and will return home along with those players who were only selected for the T20 series.

Malik's retention for the ODI series, though could create selection headaches for the tour selection committee as the squad already includes specialist batsmen like Imran Farhat, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq.