Saim Ayub and Khurram Shahzad received their debut call-ups to Pakistan’s squad for the three-match Test series against Australia, which starts next month.
Left-handed opener Ayub, 21, made a strong impression in the Pakistan Cup, where he finished as the tournament’s highest run-scorer.
Right-arm fast bowler Shahzad, 23, was the highest wicket-taker in Pakistan’s premier domestic first-class tournament, the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, this season.
Faheem Ashraf, Mir Hamza and Mohammad Wasim Jr were all re-called to the squad.
Shan Masood will lead the team for the first time after taking over the role from Babar Azam.
Conditions
“The squad has been assembled keeping in mind the challenging Australian conditions,” new chief selector Wahab Riaz said yesterday.
“We have kept the pitches in mind and added more pace bowling resources to the team to ensure that the management can be flexible with the team combinations in all three test matches.”
The first Test starts in Perth on December 14.
The squad will assemble in Rawalpindi on tomorrow for a training camp ahead of the tour. The camp is scheduled to run from Thursday to 23 to next Tuesday at Pindi Cricket Stadium. The team will fly out on November 30 from Lahore.
Some additional players have also been invited to feature in the training camp. The players called for the camp are Arshad Iqbal, Kashif Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Shahnawaz Dahani, Usama Mir and Usman Qadir.
Squad:
Shan Masood (captain), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Shah Afridi.