Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Tuesday (1st March) added pace bowler Naseem Shah into the squad for the upcoming first home Test against Australia in Rawalpindi. 

Pakistan is all set to host Australia for the first time since 1998. Both the teams will face off in three Tests, three ODIs, and one-off T20I. 

The first Test match will kick-start from 4th March in Rawalpindi followed by second and the third games to be played on 12th and 21st March in Karachi and Lahore respectively. The ODIs will be played from 29th March to 2nd April while the T20I is scheduled to take place on 5th April. 

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Ahead of the first Test match, Pakistan was jolted with a major blow as bowler Haris Rauf contracted COVID-19. The pacer will remain in isolation for five days and will rejoin the squad after returning the negative test result.

With Rauf ruled out of the first Test, PCB has added Naseem Shah to the squad. Notably, the 19-year-old was originally travelling as a reserve with the team. Earlier, Faheem Ashraf and Hasan Ali were also ruled out of the first game due to injuries. 

Pakistan's squad for the first Test: 

Babar Azam (captain), Mohammad Rizwan (vice-captain), Abdullah Shafique, Azhar Ali, Fawad Alam, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Nauman Ali, Sajid Khan, Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood and Zahid Mahmood.

(ANI inputs)