Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan Return As Pakistan Announce Squad For South Africa Series | Cricket

Written by

admin

in

Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan Return As Pakistan Announce Squad For South Africa Series. (Source: PCB/X)

google
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced the squad for the two-match Test series against South Africa, with both Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan being picked in the squad. The series will get underway on October 12 at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, while the second Test will be played at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium from October 20. The series is part of the ICC World Test Championship. Three uncapped players — left-arm spinner Asif Afridi, wrist-spinner Faisal Akram, and wicketkeeper-batter Rohail Nazir — have been included in the 18-member squad that will be trimmed to 15 before the first Test.

Shan Masood will continue to lead the side despite poor results in the format. Saim Ayub has been dropped for Imam Ul Haq, while Naseem Shah also failed to make a cut to the squad. Noman Ali and Sajid Khan, the two trump cards for Pakistan, were also picked.

After underwhelming results at home, Pakistan changed their strategy and started preparing rank turners. They reaped immediate benefit and won the series against England in 2024. They, however, lost to Bangladesh as the visitors also had a potent spin attack. It is very unlikely that Pakistan will change their approach given South Africa’s vulnerability against the spinners and a slightly weaker spin attack.

Following the Test series, Pakistan and South Africa will face off in three ODIs and as many T20Is.

Pakistan’s squad for SA Test series: Shan Masood (captain), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Asif Afridi, Babar Azam, Faisal Akram, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Rizwan (wicket-keeper), Noman Ali, Rohail Nazir (wicket-keeper), Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Afridi.

Continue Reading

More posts