Shoaib Akhtar, who has recovered from his knee injury, has been included in the 15-man Pakistan squad for the five-match ODI series and a Twenty20 against Australia in the UAE, scheduled to begin on April 22.

Shoaib Akhtar  who has recovered from his knee injury, has been included in the 15-man Pakistan squad for the five-match ODI series and a Twenty20 against Australia in the UAE, scheduled to begin on April 22. Shoaib was left out of Pakistan's squad for the tour of Bangladesh - which was suspended following unrest in the country - as he was declared unfit despite not requiring surgery. Shoaib would be returning to the side after three months; he last played against Sri Lanka in the three-match ODI series at home, and was dropped for the decider following failures in the first two games.

The squad also features young left handed opening batsman Nasir Jamshed  who will be making a return to international cricket after ten months - and  youngster Ahmed Shehzad who has impressed many onlookers at domestic level.

There's a familiar look to the squad with Saeed Ajmal once again preferred as the main spin option, with Rao Ifthikar keeping out young pretenders like Mohammad Talha and Muhammad Aamer.

Dubai Sports City - which has never hosted an international match before - will be the venue for the first two one-dayers, starting April 22, and the Twenty20 on May 7. The remaining three ODIs will be played in Abu Dhabi between those dates.

Pakistan squad: Younis Khan (capt), Salman Butt, Nasir Jamshed, Ahmed Shehzad, Shoaib Malik, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal (wk), Fawad Alam, Shoaib Akhtar, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul, Rao Iftikhar, Yasir Arafat, Saeed Ajmal.