Pakistan are the top ranked team in T20Is © AFP

Having made his comeback to the Test and ODI squads on this tour, Mohammad Amir also returns to the shortest format side as he was named in the 15-man squad for the upcoming three T20Is against South Africa. Pakistan have made only one change to the squad that whitewashed Australia and New Zealand by 3-0 margins at the UAE. Waqas Maqsood, who bowled only 11 balls in his maiden T20I appearance during the last New Zealand T20I, was left out.

Amir last turned out in T20Is for Pakistan in July 2018 during a triangular series in Zimbabwe which included the hosts and Australia. He picked up three wickets against Australia in the final which Pakistan won by six wickets.

Pakistan T20I squad: Sarfaraz Ahmed (captain, wicketkeeper), Asif Ali, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Hasan Ali, Hussain Talat, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Hafeez, Sahibzada Farhan, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Usman Shinwari

After being dropped from the one-day squad on the basis of a poor run in ODIs, Asif Ali will be under scanner during the three T20Is. He scored 150 runs at a strike rate of over 180 in nine Mzansi Super League matches for Cape Town Blitz. His run with the franchise included a score of 80.

Number one ranked Pakistan are unbeaten in their last nine T20Is. They had a successful 2018 in which they won 17 out of 19 matches in the shorter format.

"Once again, the selectors have gone ahead with the policy of maintaining consistency and retaining a winning combination," said Inzamam ul Haq, chairman of selectors. "While our focus is very much on this year's ICC Cricket World Cup, we cannot forget that the ICC T20 World Cup is in Australia in the second half of 2020. So, we need to give as much exposure and experience to our up and coming players as possible, but without compromising on the assignments in hand."