KARACHI: Pakistan have to opted to include pacer Hasan Ali and uncapped batsman Kamran Ghulam for the upcoming two-Test series against New Zealand but decided against making any wholesale changes to the squad that was recently whitewashed 3-0 by England.
Young pace spearhead Naseem Shah returns to the squad after regaining his fitness but Pakistan’s key wicket-taker Shaheen Shah Afridi remains out of action due to a knee injury he suffered during the T20 World Cup in Australia.
The few changes that Pakistan have made to the squad for the Test series against New Zealand which begins here at the National Stadium from December 26 were more out of necessity since Hasan comes in for injured Haris Rauf and Kamran replaces veteran batsman Azhar Ali, who retired after the final Test against England earlier this week.
Babar Azam, who suffered the ignominy of leading Pakistan to their first ever Test whitewash on home soil, will continue to lead Pakistan despite facing intense criticism from all quarters for his poor captaincy against England.
Meanwhile, the 27-year-old Kamran is expected to make his debut in the Test series against New Zealand, who will also play three One-day Internationals in Karachi next month. He was also selected for the Bangladesh Test series a year ago but didn't get a game then. He has played 44 first-class matches and averages 47.36, having struck 10 centuries and 18 half-centuries for his 3268 runs.
Kamran had scored a record 1249 runs for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the 2020-21 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and was part of the victorious side in the same tournament last season. He is in fine form these days as well, having scored 92, 0, 123* and 98* in the one-day format in the Pakistan Cup this month. In the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy before that, he scored 597 runs from 14 innings to average 42.64.
Hasan returns to the squad after being dropped for the series against England, which the visitors swept 3-0. His last Test was against Sri Lanka in Galle in July.
Fast bowler Mohammad Ali and bowling allrounder Faheem Ashraf, who were in the squad for the England Tests, have both been excluded for the upcoming series and advised to participate in the ongoing Pakistan Cup, the PCB said in its statement.
The series will start in Karachi next week and then move to Multan for the second game starting January 3. That will be followed by three day-night ODIs back in Karachi from January 10 to 14.
Pakistan squad: Babar Azam (captain), Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Agha Salman, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim, Naseem Shah, Nauman Ali, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Saud Shakeel, Shan Masood and Zahid Mehmood. – with inputs from agencies.