Kamran Ghulam is set to make his test debut as PCB named Pakistan’s playing 11 for the second test against England which is scheduled to begin October 15.
Shan Masood-led side will feature four spinners and one pacer as stars Naseem Shah and Shaheen Afridi have been rested. Meanwhile, Kamran Ghulam will be replacing Babar Azam in the squad.
Noman Ali, Zahid Mehmood, and Sajid Khan have been included in the team. The 38-year-old Ali made his last appearance in July 2023 while Mehmood made his last test appearance during December 2022.
The men’s national selection committee has confirmed Pakistan’s playing XI for the second Test against England, starting in Multan on Tuesday, 15 October.#PAKvENG | #TestAtHome pic.twitter.com/WzLnC0lfYQ
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) October 14, 2024
On October 13, PCB named the Pakistan squad for the second test where Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi, and Naseem Shah were excluded for the remaining tests.
A statement from the Pakistan Cricket Board backing the selection committee’s decision says that it was made considering the current form and fitness of key players and looking ahead to Pakistan’s future assignments in the 2024-25 season.
Selecting the squad for the upcoming Tests against England has been a challenging task for the selectors. We’ve had to carefully consider current player form, the urgency to bounce back in the series and Pakistan’s demanding 2024-25 international schedule.”
Azam has not scored a half-century since 2022 and has been struggling across formats where he was made captain and quit the captaincy after Pakistan’s exit at group stage exit in this year’s T20 World Cup in June.
Meanwhile, Shaheen Afridi has struggled to pick wickets in Tests since returning from a knee injury.
“With these factors in mind and in the best interest of Pakistan cricket as well as the players, we’ve decided to rest Babar Azam, Naseem Shah, Sarfaraz Ahmed and Shaheen Shah Afridi.”
“We are confident that this break from international cricket will help these players regain their fitness, confidence and composure, ensuring they return in top shape for future challenges.”
“They remain some of our finest talents with much more to contribute to Pakistan cricket. We are fully committed to supporting them during this period so they can come back even stronger,” said the member of the new selection committee Aqib Javed.
Pakistan suffered a humiliating loss in the first test match by 47 runs and an innings at Multan. This is also the first time in the history of Test cricket that a team lost by an innings after scoring 500-plus runs.
Shan Masood-led side is still looking for a maiden win in Tests after he was announced as Test captain.
Meanwhile, England has named their playing 11 for the second test where Ben Stokes has returned to the squad after Gus Atkinson and Shoaib Bashir have been rested in the squad.
Pakistan has moved to the bottom while England secured 4th position in the WTC points table. The second match of the England-Pakistan Test series will begin on October 15 at Multan Cricket Stadium.
