Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Monday (July 27) shortlisted a 20-man squad for the three-Test series against England in the UK, beginning August 5 in Manchester.
"Following the conclusion of two four-day intra-squad matches, Pakistan shortlisted the squad for the three-match Test series against England," the board said in a media release.
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The noticeable inclusions were of Sarfaraz Ahmed, Wahab Riaz and Fawad Alam.
Sarfaraz, the former skipper, was dropped from the Test side last year and replaced at the helm by the touring captain Azhar Ali.
Wahab, who had taken an indefinite break from the format in September 2019, was selected for this trip as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic forced the PCB to pick an extended squad. The left-arm pacer last turned up in a Test match in October 2018.
Time away was even longer for Fawad. The left-hand batsman hasn't been able to add to his three Test caps since 2009. He has made his comeback after a prolonged run of excellent form shown at the domestic level, with many advocating for his inclusion since a while.
All three players, however, may just have to wait for their opportunity in the final playing XI. Even Sarfaraz, who captained the Pakistan White team during their 2nd four-day intrasquad match in County Ground in Derby.
He was picked as back-up to current first-choice gloveman, Muhammad Rizwan, who did well on the tour of Australia last winter and performed nicely during the practice matches as well.
The pace attack, always the main talking point with Pakistan, features Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah and Usman Shanwari, apart from Mohammad Abbas, Sohail Khan and Wahab.
The remaining nine players, namely Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Hasnain and Musa Khan will continue training with the side for the three-T20I series, with which the tour concludes in early September.
Southampton, another ground boasting on-sight hotels and enabling the creation of bio-secure bubble, will host the second and third Test.
Pakistan squad for England Tests: Azhar Ali (Captain), Babar Azam (vice-captain), Abid Ali, Assad Shafiq, Faheem Ashraf, Fawad Alam, Imam-ul-Haq, Imran Khan Snr, Kashif Bhatti, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Nassem Shah, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Shadab Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Shan Masood, Sohail Khan, Usman Shinwari, Wahab Riaz, Yasir Shah.
