Pak squad for first Test named, Kamran left out

KARACHI: Pakistan on Sunday announced their 17-member squad for the first Test against South Africa which will begin here at the National Stadium on Tuesday (tomorrow). The Quaid-e-Azam Trophy leading batsman Kamran Ghulam, Abdullah Shafiq and Salman Ali Agha were omitted. The trio were in the initial 20-man squad.

However, the PCB said that these three players will continue to be part of the squad and will feature in warm-up and training sessions at the National Stadium. Kamran’s omission is surprising as he scored a record aggregate total of 1249 runs in the recently-concluded first-class season with five centuries and as many fifties.

The playing line-up will now be finalised by the captain in consultation with the head coach, the PCB said.

Openers: Abid Ali (Central Punjab) and Imran Butt (Balochistan).

Middle-order batsmen: Azhar Ali (Central Punjab), Babar Azam (captain, Central Punjab), Fawad Alam (Sindh), Saud Shakeel (Sindh).

All-rounders: Faheem Ashraf (Central Punjab), Mohammad Nawaz (Northern).

Wicketkeepers: Mohammad Rizwan (vice-captain, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Sarfraz Ahmed (Sindh).

Spinners: Nauman Ali (Northern), Sajid Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) and Yasir Shah (Balochistan).

Fast bowlers: Haris Rauf (Northern), Hasan Ali (Central Punjab), Shaheen Shah Afridi (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) and Tabish Khan (Sindh).