Jago Times "English Edition" Best Online Newspaper
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Wednesday named a 16-member squad for the Test series against Australia, which will begin next month, opting to keep most of the players who were part of the national side during the series with Bangladesh in 2021.
In a statement, the PCB said three changes have been made in the squad that was part of the Test series against Bangladesh. Haris Rauf will replace Bilal Asif and Shan Masood will take over from Abid Ali while Yasir Shah has been included among the five reserve players.
Haris was part of the national team in Tests against South Africa and Zimbabwe last year while Shan last played in New Zealand in 2020-21, according to the PCB statement.
Test squad:
- Babar Azam (captain)
- Mohammad Rizwan (vice-captain)
- Abdullah Shafique
- Azhar Ali
- Faheem Ashraf
- Fawad Alam
- Haris Rauf
- Hasan Ali
- Imam-ul-Haq
- Mohammad Nawaz
- Nauman Ali
- Sajid Khan
- Saud Shakeel
- Shaheen Shah Afridi
- Shan Masood
- Zahid Mahmood
The five reserve players are Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Abbas, Naseem Shah, Sarfaraz Ahmed and Yasir Shah.
Chief Selector Mohammad Wasim said the board had chosen consistency for the home series against Australia — who are touring Pakistan following an emphatic Ashes series win in January — and changes had only been made where necessary.
“This is to give the boys confidence, reward them for their impressive performances in the longer version of the game in 2021 and continue to build the side for the future,” Wasim was quoted as saying in the statement.
“These are the best available, most talented and in-form players in the domestic circuit. I am confident they will put up an impressive performance against a formidable Australia side,” he added.
The PCB also announced that Saqlain Mushtaq will continue as head coach for another 12 months while former Australian paceman Shaun Tait has been appointed as fast bowling coach for a year.
In addition, Mohammad Yousuf has been appointed as the batting coach for the series with Australia.
Last week, the PCB said the Australian Test team will arrive in the country on February 27. After isolating in Rawalpindi for one day, they will start practicing at Pindi Cricket Stadium for the first Test that will be held at the same venue from March 4 to 8.
They will then travel to Karachi for the second Test, scheduled to be held from March 12 to 16. Following that, they will travel to Lahore for the third Test that will take place from March 21 to 25.
The Tests will be part of the ICC World Test Championship.
This will be Australia’s first tour of Pakistan since 1998.