Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have shortlisted the 20 players who will be taken into the consideration for their three-match Test series against England.
The nine players who have not been included in the squad will remain with the group and will continue to train ahead of the T20I leg which follows the Test series. Those nine players are Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Amir, Haider Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hasnain and Musa Khan.
Azhar Ali has been named the captain of the side while limited-overs skipper Babar Azam will be his deputy in England.
Former captain Sarfaraz Ahmed, who has not played Test cricket for Pakistan since January 2019, returns to the side. However, he was included in the touring party as a back-up to wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan.
Sarfaraz led the Pakistan White team during their second four-day intrasquad match in County Ground in Derby which ended on July 27. Rizwan though is likely to get the nod ahead of Sarfaraz, given he performed well in the practice matches, scoring a century in the first match played from July 17 to 20.
On the other hand, Wahab Riaz, who took an indefinite break from red-ball cricket in 2019, also finds a place in the 20-man squad.
Opener Fawad Alam, who hasn’t played a single Test since 2009, was also picked in the squad.
Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah and Usman Shanwari are part of the pace attack which also has experienced campaigners in Riaz, Mohammad Abbas and Sohail Khan.
Pakistan squad:
Azhar Ali (c), Abid Ali, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fawad Alam, Imam-ul-Haq, Imran Khan, Kashif Bhatti, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood, Sohail Khan, Usman Shinwari, Wahab Riaz, Yasir Shah.
