On Saturday (November 10), the 15-man Pakistan squad has been announced for the upcoming three-match Test series against New Zealand in United Arab Emirates (UAE), starting on November 16. Young pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi and the batsman Saad Ali have earned their Test call-up to debut in this format.
After impressing with his bowling skills, the 18-year-old left-arm pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi has been selected for the upcoming Test series. It is his maiden Test call-up.
Meanwhile, the 25-year-old Saad Ali has earned another Test call-up after Pakistan’s Ireland and England tour in this May, where he didn’t make his international cricket debut. While the left-handed batsman was the leading run-scorer in the 2017/18 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy with 957 runs in 10 innings, he also played a first-class century knock during New Zealand A had a tour in UAE to play against Pakistan A in the last week.
On the other hand, Fakhar Zaman and Shadab Khan both have been rested from the upcoming Test series. Zaman made his Test debut recently during the Australia tour of UAE in last month. Featuring in the second Test, the opening batsman Zaman played the 94 and 66 runs knocks. In the meantime, the in-form leg-spinner Shadab played his last Test in this June during the Pakistan tour of England.
Imam-ul-Haq has also returned to the Test squad who had been ruled out from the second Test of the last month’s series against Australia due to the fractured finger. Recently, Imam has returned to the ODI squad after recovering from the injury. However, in the second ODI against New Zealand at Abu Dhabi on Friday night (November 9), Imam got a huge blow on his head during his batting and soon he was retired hurt and rushed to the hospital for scans. The scan reports have revealed that there is no serious injury scare while he will now remain under the team physio’s observation for the next few hours. The selectors have included Imam in the Test squad after observing his present fitness status.
Full Pakistan Test squad against New Zealand in UAE: Mohammad Hafeez, Imam-ul-Haq, Azhar Ali, Haris Sohail, Asad Shafiq, Baber Azam, Saad Ali, Sarfaraz Ahmad (c), Yasir Shah, Bilal Asif, Muhammad Abbas, Hassan Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Faheem Ashraf, Mir Hamza
Full schedule of three-match Test series between Pakistan and New Zealand in UAE in 2018/19
November 16-20: First Test – Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium (Abu Dhabi)
November 24-28: Second Test – Dubai International Cricket Stadium (Dubai)
December 3-7: Third Test – Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium (Abu Dhabi)
