PCB Announces Revamped Pakistan Test Squad Against SA With 9 New Players

Nine uncapped players have made it to the national side as Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced a 20-man squad for the South Africa Test series on Friday. All 20 players are required to join the bio-secure bubble on January 19, and the squad will be revised to 16 players ahead of the first Test.

Openers Abdullah Shafique and Imran Butt, middle-order batsmen Kamran Ghulam, Salman Ali Agha and Saud Shakeel, spinners Nauman Ali and Sajid Khan, and fast bowlers Haris Rauf and Tabish Khan have been given a chance for their significant performances in the 2020-21 domestic season, including the first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.

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Hasan Ali, who has been out of the national side for almost two years, has earned a recall to the Test side following a highly successful Quaid-e-Azam Trophy in which he was named player of the final and tournament.

Also returning to the side is all-rounder Mohammad Nawaz who took 22 wickets and scored 744 runs in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.

Meanwhile, opener Shan Masood, middle-order batsman Haris Sohail, fast bowler Mohammad Abbas and left-arm spinner Zafar Gohar have been left out of the side. These players will be invited to PCB’s High-Performance Centre in Lahore to work on their flaws and improve their skillsets.

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Fast bowler Naseem Shah has not been considered after complaining of a niggle in his hamstring. He will shortly commence his rehabilitation program at the National High-Performance Centre.

Pakistan’s Squad for South Africa

Babar Azam	Fawad Alam	Yasir Shah	Kamran Ghulam
Mohammad Rizwan	Sarfaraz Ahmed	Shaheen Afridi	Abdullah Shafique
Abid Ali	Faheem Ashraf	Agha Salman	Saud Shakeel
Imran Butt	Mohammad Nawal	Nauman Ali	Sajid Khan
Azhar Ali	Haris Rauf	Tabish Khan	Hasan Ali