Pakistan retains 16-man squad for Australian tour

The Pakistan selectors have made the decision to go in with the same side that is on the current tour of New Zealand for the upcoming tour of Australia. This comes as a certain surprise given the fact that the Pakistanis have not had the best of times in New Zealand with either bat or ball.

However, in spite of all this, this remains to be a similar team that ensured the 2-2 draw against England, something that saw them scale up to the top spot in the ICC Test match Rankings. The best news for the Pakistan team management would be the fact that their skipper Misbah-ul-Haq will be able to make the tour.

Following the conclusion of the first Test against New Zealand at Christchurch, 42-year old Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haq had returned home because of suspension and a death in the family. Azhar Ali was handed the captaincy for the following Test match at Hamilton.

Although the match is yet to be concluded, the winning prospects for Pakistan seem very slim with the New Zealand pacers expected to complete the victory as Day 5 beckons. This would also be Pakistan’s third straight Test defeat following that terrible defeat at the hands of the West Indies at Sharjah.

Incidentally, that was Jason Holder’s first Test win overseas and the West Indies’ first overseas win since that win over South Africa at Port Elizabeth all those years ago in the fall of 2008.

Pakistan has also persisted with Imran Khan, Mohammad Rizwan, and Babar Azam despite a few weak performances from the former two. Babar Azam smashed a valiant 90 in the first innings at Hamilton, something that helped the visitors inch closer to the New Zealand total.

Pakistan Squad: Azhar Ali, Sami Aslam, Sharjeel Khan, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Sarfraz Ahmed (WK), Mohammad Rizwan, Yasir Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz, Rahat Ali, Sohail Khan, Imran Khan