Babar, Shaheen and Naseem are fresh after much-needed rest: Salman Ali Agha 

Salman Ali Agha hailed Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah's return to Pakistan's white-ball side after being rested for the last two Tests vs England at home.

In Short

• Babar Azam returns to Pakistan's ODI setup
• The likes of Babar, Shaheen and Naseem were rested for last 2 Tests
• Rizwan set to lead Pakistan for white-ball series vs Australia

Pakistan team's vice-captain Salman Ali Agha hailed Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah's return to the ODI side after they were rested for the last two Tests vs England at home. Salman said that the trio are coming off fresh after a 'much-needed break' as they have been playing continuous cricket for a couple of years. He said that their inclusion would bolster Pakistan's side as they face Australia for a three-match ODI series, starting November 4. The likes of Shaheen, Babar and Naseem were rested from Pakistan's Test side as the team went onto win the series 2-1 vs England, breaking their 3-year no win streak in Test series.

"First of all, they were not dropped, they were rested. I think it was a much-needed rest as they were playing cricket for 2-3 years. So rest was really important for them and now they look really fresh. They look really excited for the series. I am hopeful that the three of them will perform well," Salman said in the pre-series media interaction.

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"Excited about the contest vs Australia"

Both teams will welcome all of their superstars, hence adding more spice to this series. Mohammad Rizwan is all set to make his captaincy debut, and it will be an important assignment for him. The likes of Kamran Ghulam, Ifran Khan, Faisal Akram, and Arafat Minhas are the new faces for Pakistan.

Salman said that the Pakistan team has plans in their minds against hosts Australia and will look to execute them.

"It's their home ground and Australia are a great team. But our team is also great, and we are really excited for the match and will try to give a good performance. Yes, we have done planning, and we had planned on seeing the team, seeing the ground. Seeing the pitches, we have done the planning. We will try and execute the plans."

Australia will aim to build up momentum ahead of the all-important Border Gavaskar Trophy series against India as they face Pakistan in the opening contest of the three-match ODI series. Playing at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Australia will have skipper Pat Cummins back in the side.