Moeen Ali is set to captain England in their T20I series against Pakistan with regular skipper Jos Buttler managing his return from a calf injury ahead of the T20 World Cup.
Buttler is one of several big names who unavailable for at least part of the series, with Chris Jordan, Liam Livingstone and Ben Stokes all absent from the squad and Chris Woakes and Mark Wood unlikely to feature in the early games.
Despite those absences, Moeen has insisted England do not have a "second string" side, backing their uncapped and inexperienced players as "very, very good". Speaking at press conference in Karachi ahead of the first game, Moeen said: "It's not through selection, it's more through unfortunate injuries.
"We still have a very good side. Throughout the summer we've had bad injuries but it gives good opportunities for new players to come in and there were always going to be new players coming into the squad because the cycle has changed.
"The team that we bring, I believe we are a very good white-ball team. White-ball players from England have been coming [to play in the Pakistan Super League].
"Phil Salt is somebody who is a fantastic player, Will Jacks and Harry Brook has done well in the PSL as well. These guys are very, very good players, I wouldn't say they're second string."
Moeen is also looking forward to playing alongside Alex Hales, who was recalled as an injury replacement for Jonny Bairstow after spending over three years in the international wilderness. "It is not a full-strength squad out here but it is an exciting squad with experience and lots of young talent," Moeen wrote in a column for the Daily Mail.
"With seven games, there is plenty of opportunity for someone to thrive. I'm delighted for Tom Helm who was excellent for us in the Hundred and it is good to see Olly Stone fit and firing again. It is great to see some new faces and some of the older faces back with the squad, like Chris Woakes and Mark Wood.
"I'm looking forward to seeing Alex Hales play. He is a gun player with experience of performing in Pakistan and Australia and as Jos said in the first press conference, we discussed internally and no one had any issues with his recall. What's done is done and we are looking forward to seeing him perform in an England shirt again."
