Pakistan drop former captain Shan Masood as three uncapped batters earn Sri Lanka Test call-ups
Pakistan have dropped former Test captain Shan Masood for the two-match series against Sri Lanka, naming a revamped 14-member squad led by Babar Azam with three uncapped batters.
Pakistan have dropped former Test captain Shan Masood for the two-match ICC World Test Championship series against Sri Lanka, naming a revamped 14-member squad led by Babar Azam. (Dawn)
The Pakistan Cricket Board announced the squad on Saturday for the series to be played in Rawalpindi and Lahore from 9 to 21 November. Three batters — Mohammad Taha, Mohammad Suleman and Sameer Minhas — have earned maiden Test call-ups, while left-arm spinner Ali Usman and batter Salman Ali Agha are also included. (Geo News)
Masood’s omission marks a significant change at the top of the order. The left-handed opener has scored 2,926 runs in 50 Tests at an average of 30.80, including seven centuries, but managed 161 runs in six innings in the three-Test series in England. Abdullah Shafique was also left out. (Dawn, ICC)
The three newcomers earned their places on domestic form. Taha, 26, leads the President’s Trophy Grade-I run charts with 730 runs in seven matches, including three centuries and a highest score of 225; Suleman ranks fifth with 652 runs in seven matches, also with three centuries; and Sameer, in his maiden first-class season, has scored 405 runs in seven matches.
Two fast bowlers will be added from the PCB Patron’s XI after its three-day warm-up match against Sri Lanka, scheduled for 4–6 November at the Islamabad Club.
Sources
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