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This PSG all-time XI might very well prove to be unbeatable!

Paris Saint-Germain was founded in 1970 and in a relatively short space of time, the French club has become a major powerhouse in Europe.

The 1996 Uefa Cup Winners' Cup champions have won 10 Ligue 1 titles, 14 Coupe de France trophies, nine Couple de la Ligue crowns and 11 Trophee des Champions gongs.

Over the years, many global superstars have featured for PSG.

Who are they? We take a look by forming an XI of their greatest players.

Here's PSG Dream Team!

Getty ImagesGK: Bernard Lama

Part of France's 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000-winning team, Bernard Lama joined PSG in 1992 from Lens as he replaced the legendary Joel Bats.

Lama went on to have two separate spells with the club in his career.

His first spell was his best, making 177 appearances between 1992 and 1997, winning one First Division title, two Coupe de France trophies, one Uefa Cup Winners' Cup and the Trophee des Champions.

West Ham signed him in 1997, but he returned to PSG in 1998 and played for another two years, making 65 appearances before joining Rennes.

Salvatore Sirigu also deserves a mention here. The Italian goalkeeper joined PSG in 2011 and made 145 appearances for the club until 2017, winning four consecutive league titles, two consecutive Coupe de France trophies, three consecutive Coupe de la Ligue crowns and four consecutive Trophee des Champions.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesRB: Marquinhos

One of the most versatile defenders at the club, Paris Saint-Germain signed Marquinhos from Roma in 2013 and the Brazilian has gone on to achieve legendary status.

Marquinhos has made over 250 appearances for PSG and ranks third in the club's all-time appearances record.

Also adept in playing defensive midfield as well as on either side of the defence, Marquinhos has won 26 trophies at PSG and was also part of the team that reached the Champions League final in the 2019-20 season.

Getty ImagesCB: Jean-Marc Pilorget

Holding the record for the most number of caps for PSG in their history, Jean-Marc Pilorget joins Marquinhos in the backline of our dream team.

Pilorget made 435 appearances across all competitions for the Parisiens in his 14-year stay at the club.

The defender won one league title and two French Cup trophies in his time at PSG.

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Getty ImagesCB: Thiago Silva

PSG's very own captain fantastic, Thiago Silva joined the club in 2012 with the tag of the most expensive defender in history.

Over the next eight years, he would go on to justify his price tag and achieve legendary status at the club while ushering them into a new era of dominance.

In 2014-15 Silva won the domestic quadruple with PSG, winning Ligue 1, Coupe de la Ligue, Trophee des Champions and the Coupe de France.

Silva made 315 appearances for PSG before joining Chelsea in 2020.

Surely this dream team would be incomplete without his presence!

Idrissa Gueye has revealed that Lionel Messi mocked him for watching Everton games on his phone during their time together at Paris Saint-Germain.

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Senegalese star left Goodison in 2019Worked with iconic figures in FranceReturned to Merseyside in summer of 2022GettyWHAT HAPPENED?

The Senegal international midfielder spent one season working with the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner at Parc des Princes in 2021-22. He kept a close eye on events at Goodison Park during that campaign, as the Toffees battled to avoid relegation out of the Premier League.

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His team-mates in France were left a little puzzled by his interest in Everton, with Gueye telling : “It was difficult in the last year, we keep supporting, we believed. I remember [Julian] Draxler every time we lose, he would go 'you see your team, they are not good!' and I would say, 'We will survive' so the day we survived against Crystal Palace he said 'you were lucky' and I said 'I told you'. I told him to come to Everton but he hasn't listened!”

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Argentine icon Messi was another to question Gueye’s passion for the Toffees, but he did get Kylian Mbappe on board. The 34-year-old midfielder, who returned to Merseyside for a second spell in 2022, added: “Mbappe, yeah he would watch. He liked to watch every game. Messi, no. It was difficult for me because we were losing a lot and he would say, 'Bro come on you see your team is losing and playing like this?' but it was funny. I used to send Seamus Coleman, Mason Holgate and Jordan Pickford messages 'Bro, please do it!'. It was important for me to support and show I was there for them.”

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WHAT NEXT?

Gueye is hoping to help steer Everton clear of danger again in 2023-24, with another basement battle being played out. Messi, meanwhile, is now in MLS with Inter Miami while Mbappe is reportedly preparing to sever ties with PSG and complete a stunning move to Real Madrid as a free agent.

MLS announced Tuesday morning that FC Cincinnati boss Pat Noonan has won MLS Coach of the Year for the first-time ever after a historic campaign.

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FC Cincinnati's Noonan named Coach of the YearLed squad to MLS Supporter's ShieldEarned No. 1 overall seed in playoffsWHAT HAPPENED?

Commissioner Don Garber posted on social media that Noonan's 'exceptional leadership' was one of many reasons as to why he was handed the award. However, the voters – which consist of currently active players, selected media members and Front Office/Technical Staff of the clubs – were in agreement, with Noonan being handed 45 percent of the total votes.

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Cincinnati have literally started from the bottom and made their way to the top. From 2019-2021 they finished dead-last in the league standings, but once Noonan was handed the reigns in 2021, their fortunes started to change. He turned centerback Matt Miazga into the MLS Defender of the Year, and has his midfield maestro Lucho Acosta leading the way in the MVP race now, too. Heavy favorites for winning MLS Cup this season, FC Cincy have undergone a complete makeover under Noonan, and for the better.

DID YOU KNOW?

This is the fourth-straight year that an Eastern Conference head coach has earned the award and the first time that a Cincy boss has claimed it as well.

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Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT FOR NOONAN AND FC CINCINNATI?

The Eastern Conference side's season is not over yet, with the MLS Conference semifinals set to take place this weekend. Cincy and MVP candidate Lucho Acosta take on 2022 finalists Philadelphia Union in a winner-take-all game, with both extra-time and penalties alive if needed. Noonan's squad advanced after knocking out Red Bull New York in Round One.

A round-up of the Ram Slam T20 matches on November 2, 2014

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Nov-2014Chris Gayle starred with the ball and bat for Lions in their Ram Slam T20 opener, taking four wickets and scoring a fifty to help the side beat Dolphins by six wickets at the Wanderers.Cody Chetty (68) and Vaughn van Jaarsveld had forged a recovery for Dolphins with a 71-run stand for the third wicket but Gayle’s introduction into the attack turned the game in Lions’ favour. He took a wicket in each over of his spell to finish with 4 for 36, breaking the Dolphins middle order by accounting for van Jaarsveld, Chetty, Jonathan Vandiar and Khaya Zondo. Prenelan Subrayen struck a few blows towards the end of the innings to lift the Dolphins total to 172.Lions began their chase with an 18-run over from Daryn Dupavillon but, by the fourth over, were struggling at 36 for 3. Gayle and Jean Symes’ 89-run stand put the chase back on track and both batsmen finished with half-centuries. While Gayle struck 56 off 38 balls, Symes finished on an unbeaten 50-ball 58 to guide Lions to a win in the 19th over.Kieron Pollard’s all-round contribution with bat and ball was the difference between the Cobras and the Titans in Johannesburg. Pollard led the Cobras final assault with the bat with 72 runs at a strike rate of 200, and was the architect of their 80-run plunder off the last six overs of their innings. He then took three wickets in two overs to derail the Titans’ chase.The Cobras were set up by Richard Levi, who faced just 34 balls for his 81 runs, but the Titans may have thought that was as bad as it got for them. They got rid of the Cobras’ top and middle order cheaply, with their slower bowlers doing the bulk of the containing. Roelof van der Merwe conceded just 14 runs in three overs while Dean Elgar took 3 for 20 and bowled a full quota to keep the Cobras quiet.That was before Pollard made his entrance. He spoilt the figures of Ethy Mbhlati and Rowan Richards and ensured the Cobras posted a run more than the Knights did in the early game.Unlike the Warriors, who collapsed in their chase of 206, the Titans looked set to get to their target of 208. Openers Elgar and Henry Davids were merciless in equal measure and shared in a first-wicket stand of 151 inside 15 overs. Again, it was Pollard who changed proceedings.In his third over, he had Elgar caught at long-on, Davids off against a slower ball and also accounted for Darren Sammy with a short ball- all in the space of seven deliveries. The Titans needed 45 runs off the last three overs but could only manage 30 in what became a tense finish.Warriors’ batting woes from the first-class and fifty-over formats have carried over into the shortest version of the game as well. Overseas signing Craig Kieswetter, who made 51, was the only batsman in their line-up who managed a score of more than 20 as they were beaten by the Knights in their campaign opener.Set a tall 206 for victory – a target built on the back of Knights’ opening stand of 78 runs and topped off by Diego Rosier’s second T20 half-century – the Warriors were never in the chase. Dillon du Preez’s four wickets dismantled them – his first pair dismissed the openers and second bored into the tail. In between that, all the other members of the Knights attack enjoyed success, except the slower bowlers, with the medium-pace of Malusi Siboto and the spin of Werner Coetsee costing more than eight runs an over.Those numbers only indicate indiscipline of the Warriors in the first half of the fixture. They used seven bowlers and none of them conceded at less than seven runs to the over, with Jon-Jon Smuts hauling in the best return of 2 for 28.Smuts’ strike pegged the Knights back after they were off to a speedy start thanks to Rudi Second and Gerhardt Abrahams. A mid-innings wobble saw them lose four wickets for 42 runs and they seemed to be losing their way but Rosier put them back on track. He shared in a 67-run stand with Obus Pienaar, which came in just 3.2 overs, to tip the Knights total over 200 and ensure they took maximum points from the first match of the campaign.

After their 92-run loss to Sri Lanka, Mashrafe Mortaza found it hard to explain Bangladesh’s fielding disaster at the MCG. Having tried a couple of times, he concluded: “Whatever I say will now sound like an excuse”.

Mohammad Isam26-Feb-20151:37

‘Dropped catches costing us’ – Mashrafe

After their 92-run loss to Sri Lanka, Mashrafe Mortaza found it hard to explain Bangladesh’s fielding disaster at the MCG. Having tried a couple of times, he concluded: “Whatever I say will now sound like an excuse”.Bangladesh’s MCG fielding debacle isn’t a new problem. Fielding has never been their strongest suit. As a lower-ranked cricket team, it should be.Mashrafe, to his credit, didn’t actually offer any excuses and if someone really needed to find out his reaction, his facial expression, every time there was a fielding error, should have been good enough. Mashrafe himself suffered one dropped catch off his bowling and another that went between wicketkeeper and slip, during his excellent opening spell.At least the first of the dropped catches would have made a difference. Lahiru Thirimanne’s edge looping towards Anamul Haque at slip was Bangladesh’s gateway towards early advantage, but it was not to be. Throughout the afternoon session, the missed opportunities would make them suffer the ignominy to be only the second bowling attack, after India in 2013, to take only one wicket in a full ODI innings.After Anamul dropped the sitter and Mushfiqur made a mess of the next edge in the ninth over, a pattern emerged. There were several half-stops that gave away a single or a two; throws from the outfield would come in a couple of bounces. There were plenty of chances for run outs with the batsmen attempting a second run but the throw would come in late.This being Bangladesh’s first ever outing at the MCG, the size of the outfield perhaps took a toll on their arms and confused their field placements. Sri Lankan fielders too had trouble chasing after balls in such a big outfield and there have been several such teams who have taken time to adjust to grounds like the MCG. But Bangladesh play regularly on much smaller grounds. Places like Mirpur, Chittagong or Fatullah are about 10 to 15 meters shorter than the MCG outfield if they were used fully, but the growing practice of bringing the rope in for T20 games has made these venues smaller so Bangladesh players are having to throw shorter distances.But there was no excuse for a number of other missed chances. In the 22nd over, Mushfiqur missed a stumping. He has been prone to missing stumpings and caught-behinds. He had a good period between 2010 to 2013 before his standards slipped dramatically last year.Anamul let a drive from Kumar Sangakkara go between his legs at cover. Taskin Ahmed dropped a caught and bowled off the same batsman, diving instead of simply taking one step forward. But Mominul Haque initiated the most talked about farce, dropping a simple chance at point when Sangakkara was on 60; his subsequent run out attempt was not backed up and Taskin, stationed at long-on, was caught by the TV cameras to have turned his back to the action soon after Mominul had dropped the catch.The sloppiness was completed with a botched run out attempt. Dilshan and Sangakkara were in hand-shaking distance in the middle of the pitch but Anamul dithered badly in choosing between a shy at the stumps and a throw to the wicketkeeper before his eventual throw missed it’s target and Dilshan, well short of safety, survived.”We had fielding practice here but whatever I say will now sound like an excuse,” Mashrafe said. “We didn’t do well in our fielding, catching and bowling. I still feel that had we stopped them for around 280-300 or if Shakib and Mushfiqur batted for a bit longer, we might have had a chance. It was a good wicket. We just couldn’t execute our plans.”I can’t give an excuse about the ground but fielding was disappointing today. It’s very difficult to explain but as I said I can’t give an excuse here. We couldn’t and that’s the problem. Hopefully we’ll come up with good things.”In 2014, Bangladesh dropped 10 catches in four ODIs against Sri Lanka, including five in one match when they had reduced Sri Lanka to 67 for 8. When they lost to Afghanistan in Fatullah, three catches went down.Fielding is a reasonable, if not entirely accurate, indicator of a team’s mental and physical well-being. It doesn’t necessarily show team spirit, but the level of enjoyment often translates to efficiency and facilitates brilliance. Although they said plenty of times over the last few weeks that playing in the major Australian venues excited them, there was a major lack of enjoyment at the MCG for Bangladesh in the field.

Firdose Moonda reports on Cape Cobras triumph over Knights in the final of the Ram Slam T20 Challenge

Firdose Moonda12-Dec-2014It was third time lucky for the Cobras as they were crowned champions of South Africa’s domestic 20-over competition, after losing the final in each of the last two seasons, with a 33-run win over Knights in Cape Town.But it was neither of their big name national players, Hashim Amla or Dale Steyn, who put in the performance that mattered. Omphile Ramela’s career-best 54 off 34, four wickets for Dane Paterson and five catches from Justin Ontong sealed the deal for the men from the Cape.The Knights barely turned up for the chance to challenge for the trophy. After holding the Cobras at bay for the first 16 overs of their innings, they came under assault from Ramela and Kieron Pollard and could not recover with the bat in reply. Only two of their batsmen managed scores of over 15 as they started slowly and crumbled later on to hand the Cobras victory.The Cobras were in early trouble when both openers were dismissed in the first nine overs. Richard Levi, who finished the competition as its top-scorer, was run-out for one and Amla was bowled for 26 walking across his stumps to Obus Pienaar.Ramela and Dane Vilas began doing a repair job but the Cobras were still in a shaky position when Vilas was deceived by a Dillon du Preez slower ball and offered a catch to long-on to depart for 29. In the 13th over, the Cobras were stuttering on 72 for 3 and needed an urgent injection of intent.It was up to Pollard to do that. He upped the tempo with Ramela, who allowed Pollard a two-over sighter to find his feet. At the end of the 16th over, the Cobras had only reached 101 for 3, thanks to tight bowling from Shadley van Schalkwyk and du Preez, before Pollard got going.He took ten runs off a Malusi Siboto over, and then combined with Ramela to plunder 16 in the 18th off his countryman, Andre Russell. Ramela scored 11 off the next over, in which he reached his first T20 fifty off 32 balls, before being dismissed which left it up to Pollard to push the Cobras over 150. He smashed 18 runs off the final over, bowled by Russell, to set up a challenging chase.The slow-burn from the Knights blunted that chance early on. They could not get Steyn away and their run-rate did not reach six an over until the final over of the powerplay. That was when Reeza Hendricks took on Paterson but the aggression was shortlived. Pollard dried the runs up at his end before Robin Peterson took the first wicket when he had Gerhardt Abrahams caught by a diving Levi at short cover for 9.The wicket came in the midst of a boundary-less four-over period, broken only when Rilee Rossouw pulled George Linde, the joint highest-wicket-taker of the tournament, to fine leg. Rossouw and Hendricks kept the Knights in the hunt but when both were caught by Ontong, a return catch low in his follow through and a superb effort off Paterson at mid-off respectively, the Knights had raised their white flag.They lost 6 for 17 between overs 14 and 17 and gave Pollard his best figures of the tournament, 3 for 21. With 51 runs needed from the last three overs, there was only one winner and the Newlands crowd rose to their feet to greet the final ball, and the trophy. Both teams qualify for next year’s Champions League T20.

Cristiano Ronaldo's blowing of kisses to chants of Lionel Messi's name didn't age well after his Al-Nassr side fell to a 3-0 loss to Al-Hilal.

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Al-Nassr were out-classed by Al-HilalMessi chants fill the stadium to annoy RonaldoAl-Hilal opened up a seven-point advantage over Al-NassrWHAT HAPPENED?

History repeated itself at the King Fahd International Stadium on Friday evening. Back in April, Ronaldo found himself in the eye of controversy after he made an indecent gesture following relentless Messi chants by Al-Hilal fans after a 2-0 loss. This time the taunts grew louder as the margin of defeat was bigger and Ronaldo remained an anonymous figure during a relatively quiet evening.

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However, this time around, Ronaldo was more mature in his reaction. The Portuguese soaked in the atmosphere and blew fly kisses to the stands before climbing down the tunnel at half-time, with the scores still locked at 0-0.

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Sergej Milinkovic-Savic opened the scoring with a blistering header after the hour mark. But the star of the evening was former Fulham striker, Aleksandr Mitrovic, who netted twice in the final minutes of the game to seal the three points for the hosts.

Although Ronaldo did pierce the net on two occasions, he was given offside both times which further added to his frustration.

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Getty WHAT NEXT FOR RONALDO?

The defeat to Al-Hilal was a major dent to Al-Nassr's title aspirations as the former went seven points clear at the top of the table. Ronaldo will return to action against Istikloll on Tuesday in an AFC Champions League fixture away from home.

Ryan Reynolds has paid tribute to the “one and only” Rosie Hughes after seeing her register goal number 100 for Wrexham’s Women’s team.

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Star striker remains a prolific presenceHelped to secure promotion last seasonClub co-owner is a big fanWHAT HAPPENED?

The prolific 28-year-old forward has made a stunning contribution to the collective cause in North Wales since linking up with the Red Dragons in 2021. She has finished as the top scorer in the Adran North on two occasions, with promotion secured to the Adran Premier League last season.

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Hughes has been showing no sign of slowing down at a higher level, with another effort added to her impressive tally in a 3-1 victory over TNS. That contest handed Wrexham their first home win of the 2023-24 campaign.

DID YOU KNOW?

Hollywood superstar Reynolds, who is co-owner of Wrexham Association Football Club alongside Rob McElhenney, is among those to have saluted Hughes’ efforts are seeing her become a club centurion. The Deadpool actor has called Hughes “the one and only” when sharing a celebratory graphic on social media.

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WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

Wrexham boast big ambition at every level under Reynolds and McElhenney, with the women’s team chasing down title glory while the men are hoping to build on their record-breaking promotion from last season by bouncing straight up into League One.

Can the forces of nature that have been unleashed by England’s white-ball revolution be harnessed in time for them to make an impression at the World T20? Or is it too little, too late

Andrew Miller15-Mar-20164:24

Butcher: How England play spin will be vital

Big PictureDogma has tended to hold sway over reason for England at ICC global events. What planning there has been has usually been at least four years off the pace, its loopholes exposed by the lightest touch of scrutiny – take their squad for the inaugural World T20 in 2007, for instance, filled to the gunwales with job-a-day county pros, such as Darren Maddy and Jeremy Snape, who had turned a few tricks in the early seasons of the Twenty20 Cup, but rarely many heads. Or, if you prefer, take any World Cup squad from 1996 to 2015 inclusive.There has, of course, been one notable exception to this rule. When England won the World T20 in the Caribbean in 2010, they did so with a fresh team and a fresh attitude, albeit one that was forced upon them by the haplessness of their chosen few in the weeks and months leading up to the event.It took an infamous warm-up match against England Lions in Abu Dhabi to instigate wholesale change. Out went Jonathan Trott and Joe Denly, in came Craig Kieswetter and Michael Lumb, and, with Ryan Sidebottom’s left-arm seam leading the line superbly, England suddenly hit their stride to awesome and insuperable effect.With that in mind, England’s 2016 T20 squad is a curious hybrid of long-term planning and short-term expediency. This time the shift in attitude and personnel has had 12 turbo-charged months in which to bed in – even though it took yet another calamitous campaign at the 2015 World Cup to hammer home the need for England to get with the times.So, can the forces of nature that have been unleashed by England’s white-ball revolution be harnessed in time for them to make an impression at the sixth World T20? Or is it too little, too late, in a form of the game that has evolved beyond recognition in the six years since England last emerged victorious?The talent at the team’s disposal, for once, cannot be disputed. England may have dropped the ball politically when it comes to T20 cricket, but their invention of the format back in 2003 does give them one remaining head-start. Thirteen years is long enough to bring through an entire generation of players who have grown up with the game’s new realities, and are not afraid of its possibilities. That is as good a starting point as they can hope for.At the helmEoin Morgan was hospital-passed the England World Cup captaincy after the extraction of Alastair Cook in December 2014, and to nobody’s real surprise, he damn near dropped the ball in that calamitous campaign Down Under. But to the eventual credit of the ECB – and in particular the incoming director of cricket, Andrew Strauss – they didn’t just stick with him in the aftermath, they broadened his remit to cover all limited-overs cricket, and the upsurge in the team’s fortunes is plain to see. Morgan leads with authority, knows his role and, crucially, knows when to defer to his young thrusters, most notably in Dubai when he pushed Jos Buttler up the order and watched him scorch England’s fastest ODI hundred. Like Paul Collingwood in 2010, the more anonymous he remains, the better England are likely to be doing.Key stat10.The number of England’s players who have yet to play a full international fixture in India. Morgan, with eight games spread across three visits – including a late entry to the World Cup campaign in 2011 after he broke a finger before the event – is the most experienced campaigner. He is also the only one to have featured in the IPL. Joe Root (7), Liam Plunkett (6), Jos Buttler (5) and Alex Hales (3) have played 21 games in India between them. The rest? Zilch.Leading MenJos ButtlerThe most awesome of the talents among England’s newly-unleashed T20 generation, and the likeliest candidate to win a contest single-handedly. Buttler possesses power in abundance, and a repertoire of strokes that can blow the mind when he is in full flow. His tale rather epitomises that of this England team as a whole – they are definitely going places in one-day cricket, but are they really there yet? Buttler’s maiden stint in the IPL will follow hot on the heels of this campaign. What England would give for that experience already to be in his memory banks.Adil RashidA veteran of the 2009 World T20, in which he wheeled through his overs with dignity but rarely looked like a world-beating option. But just watch him go now, a weapon transformed thanks to a career-moulding stint with Adelaide Strikers in the Big Bash League. Rashid has found control to back up the cunning variations that he’s always been able to deliver, and rare is the batsman who trusts himself to hit him out of the attack. This tournament has the potential to cement his breakthrough year.Reece TopleyTall, gangling and improving all the time, Topley’s ability to bend the ball back into the right-handers from a cloud-snagging left-arm action gives England another formidable option. If he lands his length from the outset, it can often take a new batsman several deliveries to line up a suitable response. Another man whose inexperience could prove his undoing, but in Topley’s case, he has only just turned 22. You’ve got to start somewhere, so why not at the top?Burning QuestionCan the opening pair fire?
Where Kieswetter and Lumb blazed a trail in 2010, are Jason Roy and Alex Hales really ready to follow? The pair have bedded into a comfortable and productive alliance at the top of England’s order since coming together at the start of last summer, but neither has quite hit the top notes of destruction on which they’ve built their reputation in county cricket. And, if they fail – or fail to get a move on, which is even more of a sin in T20 cricket – is the middle order primed to hit the ground running, as a certain Kevin Pietersen proved to be in that triumphant campaign …?World T20 historyDecidedly mixed. Their 2010 victory was a triumph of expediency, but they’ve let themselves down in the other four events to date. The best of the rest was unquestionably their 2009 campaign on home soil, when their quick bowlers laid out the strategies that would help to deliver glory in the Caribbean a year later. However, their unfortunate rain-affected exit at the hands of West Indies remains utterly overshadowed by their opening-round capitulation to Netherlands. The fact that England repeated that ignominy in their most recent World T20 fixture, at Chittagong in 2014, is proof of a team who haven’t always had their game-brains switched on.In their Own Words”Sometimes, having experience, particularly in India, can almost scar your perception and [style of] playing within the tournament. Having a little bit of naivety with a huge amount of talent isn’t a bad thing.” Eoin Morgan on England’s innocence abroad.

Allrounder Shoaib Malik and fast bowler Mohammad Sami have been recalled to the Pakistan team for the two Twenty20 internationals against Zimbabwe in Lahore

Umar Farooq19-May-2015Allrounder Shoaib Malik and fast bowler Mohammad Sami have been recalled to the Pakistan team for the two Twenty20 internationals against Zimbabwe in Lahore. Uncapped 19-year-old opener Nauman Anwar and former under-19 captain Imad Wasim were given call-ups.Anwar Ali, Bilawal Bhatti and Hammad Azam also returned to the squad, while Saad Nasim, Imran Khan and Haris Sohail were dropped from the Pakistan T20 squad that played against Bangladesh in Mirpur last month. Saeed Ajmal, who was ineffective with his new bowling action, was also dropped along with Sohail Tanvir. Both Sohaib Maqsood and Sohail Khan were sidelined over fitness issues, and Junaid Khan was the other notable exclusion for the Zimbabwe series.Sami’s call-up came as a surprise considering he has not played for Pakistan since June 2012, when they toured Sri Lanka. He took six wickets in three matches in the Super8 T20 competition in Faisalabad last week.Anwar, who entered the domestic circuit last year, has only played a handful of first-class matches but caught the attention of the selectors after an extraordinary show in the recently concluded Super8 tournament in Faisalabad, scoring 270 runs at a strike-rate of 162.65 for Sialkot Stallions. Wasim, who led the Pakistan Under-19 World Cup team in 2007, was selected on the basis of his all-round performance for Pakistan A in the ongoing series against Sri Lanka A.The selectors retained Ahmed Shehzad, who was not part of the ODI series in Bangladesh but played the T20. He scored 0, 58*, 8 and 8 in four innings in the Super8 tournament. Umar Akmal, who was also not part of the Pakistan side against Bangladesh, returned to the squad after putting up scores of 35, 1, 95*and 85*.Pakistan will play two T20Is and three ODIs against Zimbabwe – the first international cricket to be played in the country since March 2009. Only six players – Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Sarfraz Ahmed, Wahab Riaz and Mohammad Sami – in this T20 squad have played an international match in Pakistan.Squad: Shahid Afridi (capt), Sarfraz Ahmed (vc), Ahmed Shehzad, Mohammad Hafeez, Mukhtar Ahmed, Nauman Anwar, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Mohammad Rizwan, Anwar Ali, Hammad Azam, Imad Wasim, Bilawal Bhatti, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Sami