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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan recalled fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi for the white-ball cricket series against West Indies, starting at Broward County Stadium in Lauderhill, Florida.

The three Twenty20 matches in the US — on July 31, Aug. 2 and 3 — will be followed by three ODI games in Trinidad and Tobago.

Afridi, who is also in the ODI squad, was surprisingly excluded from Pakistan’s last two T20 series against Bangladesh despite leading Lahore Qalandars to its third Pakistan Super League title in the last four years with a rich haul of 19 wickets this year.

In Afridi’s absence, Pakistan routed Bangladesh 3-0 at home but lost 2-1 to Bangladesh at Dhaka in a series which ended Thursday.

Fast bowler Haris Rauf, who was forced to miss the series against Bangladesh because of a hamstring injury he sustained during Major League Cricket (MLC) in the US, has recovered and was named in the T20 squad.

Pakistan’s pace attack was further strengthened Friday with the return of Hasan Ali for both T20s and ODIs against West Indies.

The selectors dropped pace bowlers Abbas Afridi and Salman Mirza, who both participated in the T20 series in Bangladesh, and retained all-rounders Hussain Talat and Mohammad Nawaz.

Middle-order batter Hasan Nawaz is the only uncapped player named in the ODI squad. Nawaz scored Pakistan’s fastest-ever T20 century against New Zealand in March this year.

Salman Ali Agha will continue to lead the T20 side while wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan was named skipper for the ODI series.

Twenty20 squad: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Nawaz, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem.

ODI squad: Mohammad Rizwan (captain), Salman Ali Agha, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem.

RIYADH: As the 2025 Esports World Cup continues in Riyadh, the Esports World Cup Foundation has launched EWC_Extra, a dedicated social channel on X and Instagram focused on real-time coverage, community reactions and key moments from inside the arena.

Built for the community across EWC’s 25 tournaments, EWC_Extra features play-by-play content from tournament upsets and Most Valued Player performances to memes, creator posts and behind-the-scenes access.

In tandem with the main EWC channel, it forms a two-part content ecosystem to reflect the scale of the world’s biggest esports event. While the main channel delivers human stories and cultural context, EWC_Extra stays focused on the tournament action itself.

Running until Aug. 24, Esports World Cup 2025 brings together 2,000 players and 200 clubs competing in 25 tournaments across 24 games for a record-breaking prize pool of $70+ million prize pool. Backed by football legend Cristiano Ronaldo and chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen, it is being broadcast in 140 countries.

Two weeks in, eight champions have been crowned so far.

Gen.G continued their winning streak to take the League of Legends title, Heretics won VALORANT in a dramatic reverse sweep, VK claimed Apex Legends with a final-game victory, and Redline defended their Rennsport title.

GO1 delivered a shock win over favorite Xiao Hai in Fatal Fury, while Team Spirit dropped just one game on their way to the Dota 2 crown. Team Vitality were unbeaten to take the MLBB Women’s Invitational and EVOS Esports triumphed in Free Fire, with 15-year-old wonderkid Rasyah securing the tournament’s MVP award.