The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chief Selector Muhammad Wasim has announced the squad for the upcoming three-match Test series against England. Star pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi has been left out of the 18-member squad due to knee injury, which he suffered during the T20 World Cup 2022 final against England on November 13. The pacer also had appendicitis surgery on Sunday.
Shaheen will require three-four weeks’ rest after the surgery, following which he will resume his two-week rehabilitation on his right knee.
Shaheen, Pakistan’s strike bowler across all formats, has 99 Test, 62 ODI, and 58 T20I wickets in a career that began in 2018.
Middle-order batter Fawad Alam, as well as pacer Hasan Ali and leg-spinner Yasir Shah, have been left out of the squad for the three-match series.
Alam scored 33 runs in four innings of three Tests earlier this year against Australia while scoring 25 runs in his only Test in Sri Lanka.
Meanwhile, Hasan has five wickets in his last four Tests against Australia and Sri Lanka, while Yasir Shah has nine wickets in Sri Lanka but only 14 in seven Quaid-e-Azam Trophy matches.
Mystery spinner Abrar Ahmed and fast bowler Mohammad Ali have been rewarded for their first-class solid performances with maiden Test call-ups.
The England team will arrive in Pakistan on November 27 for the much-anticipated tour, with the first Test set to begin on December 1 in Rawalpindi.
Pakistan squad
Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Azhar Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Naseem Shah, Nauman Ali, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel, Shan Masood and Zahid Mehmood.
