PCB announces Pakistan squad for Test series against South Africa

The Pakistan Cricket team will lock horns against South Africa in a home series comprising two Test matches and three One Day Internationals from January 26 to February 14. After a horrendous Test outing against New Zealand, where the Men in Green witnessed a series whitewash, they will be looking forward to making a comeback in the home series against SA.

The Test series will be crucial for both South Africa and Pakistan to keep their hopes alive of making it to the finals of the inaugural edition of ICC World Test Championship at Lord’s in 2021 summer. At present, South Africa is placed in fifth place behind Australia, India, New Zealand, and England with 144 points and 40%. They are followed by Pakistan in the sixth position with 166 points and a 30.7 win percentage.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced new rules for the World Test Championship due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic as now instead of points, the win percentage will be considered to determine the finalists of the marquee tournament.

Pakistan drops eight players from their Test squad

Ahead of the Test series that is scheduled to start from January 26 at National Stadium in Karachi, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced a 20-member squad. The Pakistan board has now announced just the initial squad and will be naming the final 16-member squad for the marquee series a few days later.

Pakistan made a few notable changes in their Test squad for South Africa as they excluded as many as eight players. Shan Masood, Imam Ul Haq, Mohammad Abbas, Haris Sohail, Shadab Khan, Zafar Gohar, Sohail Khan, and Naseem Shah have been dropped from the team owing to their poor performance in the two-Test matches against New Zealand.

Pakistan’s renowned journalist Saj Sadiq revealed Pakistan’s initial squad via his official Twitter handle. “Pakistan initial Test squad for the series against South Africa,” the journalist tweeted.

Pakistan’s Test squad: Babar Azam (Captain), Mohammad Rizwan, Abid Ali, Imran Butt, Azhar Ali, Fawad Alam, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Yasir Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Abdullah Shafique, Agha Salman, Saud Shakeel, Kamran Ghulam, Sajid Khan, Tabish Khan, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Nawaz, Nauman Ali and Hassan Ali.