A historic Test series against Australia at home awaits as Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) selectors have announced the 16 member squad for the series along with 5 reserve players as well.
The Australian cricket team is set to visit Pakistan for the first time in the last 24 years, as thus, this will mark a historic moment for the Pakistani cricket fans and the Pakistan cricket team as well as they look to bring International cricket back to Pakistan.
Just yesterday, the Australian cricket team announced a full-strength 18 member squad for the series, led by Pat Cummins.
Now PCB has announced the Pakistan squad for the series and Babar Azam will be leading the side in this historic series, not only for the home side but also for Australia as well.
The announced sees 3 changes to the team as Haris Rauf has been brought in to replace off-spin bowler Bilal Asif from their previous series. Shan Masood has also been recalled in place of Abid Ali, who at the moment recovering from injury.
Shan Masood last featured for Pakistan last year when they played New Zealand. The third change is in the reserves as spin bowler Yasir Shah is returning to the team and has been placed as a reserve.
The Pakistan’s national cricket board also confirmed that Saqlain Mushtaq has signed a contract extension with the team and will remain the head coach of the team for the next 12 months too, while Shaun Tait has been appointed the new bowling coach.
The squad will assemble on the 16th of February in Karachi excluding those of the players who are currently taking part in the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2022.
Pakistan squad for Test series against Australia:
Babar Azam (C), Mohammad Rizwan, Abdullah Shafique, Azhar Alu, Faheem Ashraf, Fawad Alam, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Nawaz, Nauman Ali, Sajid Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood, Zahid Mahmood.
Reserve Players: Yasir Shah, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Naseem Shah, Mohammad Abbas, Kamran Ghulam.