Rookie paceman Imran Khan junior was on Wednesday rewarded for his excellent bowling in Pakistani domestic cricket with a first-time inclusion in the national T20 squad for the tour of Zimbabwe.

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The 27-year-old took 16 wickets to help Peshawar defend the National Twenty20 title in Rawalpindi on Tuesday, claiming his second successive best bowler award after also winning it in 2014.

“We have rewarded some outstanding performers in the recently concluded tournament and Imran was one of them,” chief selector Haroon Rasheed said in a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) release.

“But at the same time we are (keeping) continuity in the rebuilding phase of the Pakistan team by retaining majority of players who were part of the successful last tour of Sri Lanka,” he added.

The 25-year-old uncapped pace bowling all-rounder Amir Yamin was also included for the two Twenty20 matches later this month.

Anwar Ali has been rested from the T20 games to allow his recovery from a groin strain and he will join the squad only for the ODI series.

Shahid Afridi will lead the Twenty20 side while Azhar Ali will be the skipper for the three one-day matches.

Veteran batsman Younis Khan was not selected after a poor run of scores in the World Cup in February-March this year.

Batsman Sohaib Maqsood returned to both squads after recovering from a shoulder injury sustained ahead of the tour of Bangladesh in April.

The two Twenty20 matches will be played on September 27 and 29 followed by the ODIs on October 1, 3 and 5. All five matches of the limited-overs series will be played in Harare.