Ahmed Shehzad out, Wahab Riaz called up in the Pakistan squad for SL series

Pakistan squad for their upcoming Test series against Sri Lanka will see Wahab Riaz making a comeback, while Ahmed Shehzad will have to sit this one out. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief selector, Inzamam-ul-Haq announced the 16-member squad in a press conference on Saturday, where he spoke at length about fitness issues of several players. The 2-Test Series starts on September 28, in Dubai.

Pakistan skipper, Sarfraz Ahmed, in a separate press conference, corroborated to the chief selector’s announcements. Ahmed also delved deeper into the challenges of leading his team in the longer format. Pakistan recently won the 3-T20I series against the World XI played at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore by a margin of 2-1.

New inclusions in the Pakistan squad and injuries subsiding

Inzamam-ul-Haq, while unveiling the squad for the upcoming series against Sri Lanka, announced that 32-year-old pacer, Riaz will be making a comeback to the team. Meanwhile, both Ahmed Shehzad and Mohammad Rizwan have been dropped.

When asked to elucidate on Yasir Shah and Azhar Ali’s selection, who had both been facing fitness issues earlier, Inzamam confirmed they had both cleared the fitness tests and said, “We told Yasir that he will not be selected if he does not clear the fitness test. Even though no bowler has been as successful as Yasir in the Test format, but we had to uphold the standards that were set. Azhar has a cyst in his knee but after taking injections that were prescribed by the doctors, he is fine and can play now.”

Speaking in the same strain, skipper Sarfraz said, “Yasir Shah cleared his fitness test and Azhar Ali will be fine and fit to play the first match. He has been examined by the doctors.” Ahmed went on to elaborate on the faith he had in the selected team by calling it “balanced”. He said, “There are both spinners and fast bowlers [in the squad]. And we will take a strong middle order as that is crucial in the Test format.”

Pakistan squad:

Sarfraz Ahmed (C/wk), Azhar Ali, Shan Masood, Sami Aslam, Babar Azam, Asad Shafiq, Haris Sohail, Usman Salahuddin, Yasir Shah, Mohammad Asghar, Bilal Asif, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Amir, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Abbas, Wahab Riaz