LAHORE: Pakistan have made six changes to their ODI squad from the last series against Bangladesh ahead of next week’s three-match series against world champions Australia, which begins in Rawalpindi on 30 May.

Faheem Ashraf, Faisal Akram, Hussain Talat, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Junior and Saad Masood have been replaced by Ahmed Daniyal, Arafat Minhas, Naseem Shah, Rohail Nazir, Shadab Khan and Sufyan Moqim.

Ahmed Daniyal, Arafat Minhas and Rohail Nazir are uncapped at ODI level. Naseem Shah returns to 50-over cricket after last featuring against Sri Lanka in Rawalpindi in November 2025. Shadab Khan played his 70th and most recent ODI in the ICC Men’s 50-over Cricket World Cup 2023 against England in Kolkata, while Sufyan Moqim last appeared in the format against the West Indies in August 2025.

Rohail Nazir and Muhammad Ghazi Ghori are the two wicketkeepers in the squad. It remains unclear, however, who will assume keeping duties in Rizwan’s absence — Ghazi played as a specialist batter on his debut against Bangladesh in Mirpur in March, while Rohail has been in and out of the setup without establishing himself in either the Test or ODI side.

In a significant development, Salman Ali Agha has been named vice-captain to Shaheen Shah Afridi. Pakistan rarely appoints a vice-captain for home ODI series, and the decision is widely seen as a first step toward positioning Salman as a Test captaincy candidate for the upcoming tours of the West Indies and England.

Salman is presently Pakistan’s T20I captain and has a 31-18 record in 50 matches.

Australia, who defeated India in the final of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 in Ahmedabad, are the number-one ranked ODI side. Pakistan, by contrast, are ranked eighth — trailing by 56 points. On a head-to-head record, Australia leads Pakistan by a considerable margin, having won 71 matches to Pakistan’s 36.

Pakistan’s most recent home series victory against Australia came in March 2022, when they ended a losing streak against the same opposition that had stretched back to November 1998 — five consecutive series without a win.

Shaheen Shah Afridi has previously captained Pakistan in eight ODIs, winning series against South Africa (2-1) and Sri Lanka (2-0), before losing to Bangladesh 2-1 in March.

Pakistan 16-player squad: Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain), Salman Ali Agha (vice-captain), Abdul Samad, Abrar Ahmed, Ahmed Daniyal, Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Maaz Sadaqat, Muhammad Ghazi Ghori (wk), Naseem Shah, Rohail Nazir (wk), Sahibzada Farhan, Shadab Khan, Shamyl Hussain, Sufyan Moqim.

Australia ODI squad: Mitchell Marsh (captain), Alex Carey, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Riley Meredith, Ollie Peake, Matthew Renshaw, Tanveer Sangha, Liam Scott, Matthew Short, Billy Stanlake, Adam Zampa.