Pakistan drop Shan Masood, call up three uncapped batters
Babar Azam retains the captaincy of a 14-member squad for two World Test Championship matches against Sri Lanka in Rawalpindi and Lahore from November 9 to 21.
Pakistan have dropped former Test captain Shan Masood from their squad for the two-match ICC World Test Championship series against Sri Lanka and picked three uncapped batters, in a selection shake-up announced by the Pakistan Cricket Board on Saturday.
Babar Azam retains the captaincy of the 14-member squad. Mohammad Taha, Mohammad Suleman and Sameer Minhas have received their first Test call-ups, Dawn reported, saying the selectors had turned to youth and domestic performers for the series. The Nation led its report on the same three names breaking into the Test squad.
Dawn also reported that Ali Usman and Salman Ali Agha were included in the party. Al Jazeera reported that Agha and wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan are returning to the side. The full 14-man list was not carried in the reports available.
Dawn reported that the series will be played in Rawalpindi and Lahore between November 9 and 21.
Masood's omission is the most striking of the changes. Dawn described the dropping of the former skipper as a significant change in the Test set-up, and framed the squad as a shift towards younger players and those who have performed in domestic cricket. The Pakistan Cricket Board has not, in the material available, given its own explanation for leaving him out.
The International Cricket Council, in its own headline, framed the announcement as Pakistan bringing in fresh batting talent for the Sri Lanka Tests, an indication that the incoming trio rather than the outgoing captain is the centre of the selectors' plan.
Pakistan's Test squad for the Sri Lanka series was announced with Babar Azam as captain and a mix of returning internationals and uncapped batting options, leaving the two-match home series as the first test of whether the new selection approach holds up. Neither the board nor the selectors have issued a detailed statement on the composition of the squad beyond the announcement itself.
The series falls inside the current ICC World Test Championship cycle, giving both matches championship points as well as the usual bilateral stakes. Pakistan will host both games at home, in Rawalpindi and then Lahore, across a 13-day window in November.
Further details of the squad, including the pace and spin options and the wicketkeeping cover beyond Rizwan, were not carried in the reports available.
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