Pakistan Have Handed Test Comebacks For Four Cricketers:
Pakistan has shortlisted a 20-man team against England for the forthcoming Tri-Match Test series. It is worth noting that Pakistan had sent 29 players to England who were supposed to be separated respectively for Tests and T20Is.
The selectors have added former captain Sarfaraz Ahmed, fast bowler Wahab Riaz, spinner Shadab Khan and uncapped spinner Kashif Bhatti to the squad in addition to the 16 players who were part of the Pakistani team for the home test against Bangladesh earlier this year to ensure ample reserves for the series starting from August 5.
The remaining nine England players will continue to practice with the squad and get an chance during the T20I series. The only player to get dropped from the squad against Bangladesh is 34-year-old Bilal Asif spinner.
Each of the players trained under biosecurity guidelines and even played a few matches intra-squad before the final squad was picked. Ahmed, who last played international cricket in last year’s home series against Sri Lanka, has been named as Mohammad Rizwan ‘s second wicket keeper batsman.
Last year Riaz had called time on his Test career, making himself available for the Test series. Shadab, who last played Test cricket on last year’s South Africa tour, has been included in Yasir Shah and Bhatti alongside two other spinners.
Sohail Khan and Usman Shinwari have been recalled into the team in the rapid bowling section. In intra-squad matches, Sohail, 36, picked up a couple of five-wicket hauls to press his case for a comeback after 4 years. In comparison, Shinwari made his Test debut at home last year against Sri Lanka.
Azhar Ali(c), Babar Azam, Abid Ali, Asad Shafiq, Faheem Ashraf, Fawad Alam, Imam-ul-Haq, Imran Khan Sr, Kashif Bhatti, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Naseem Shah, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Shadab Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Shan Masood, Sohail Khan, Usman Shinwari, Wahab Riaz and Yasir Shah.
