Shaheen Afridi will play in the team for Sri lanka tour.
Uncapped batter Mohammad Huraira and all-rounder Aamir Jamal have both been named to the men’s national selection committee.
On Saturday, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) revealed that paceman Shaheen Afridi has been invited up to the Green Shirts’ Test team for the forthcoming two-match tour series against Sri Lanka. The men’s national selection council has also named uncapped batter Mohammad Huraira and all-rounder Aamir Jamal in the 16-man team for Pakistan’s first assignment in the ICC World Test Championship’s third cycle.
The roster was designed with the conditions in Sri Lanka in mind, according to the board, who noted that the team included four spinners, four fast bowlers, six specialist batsmen, and two keeper-batters.
Pakistan and Sri Lanka last played a Test series in July 2022, which ended in a 1-1 tie.
Pakistan will hold a training boot camp in Karachi on July 3 before traveling to Sri Lanka on July 9. Sri Lanka Cricket will release the trip schedule in due course.
Pakistani team
Amir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Huraira, Mohammad Nawaz, Nasem Shah, Noman Ali, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakel, Shahen Afridi, and Shan Masod batted first.
Shaheen is one wicket away from a century of Test wickets, and no Pakistan bowler has taken more wickets since making his first appearance on December 3, 2018. Shaheen, 23, has a 24.86 average and a 3.04 economy.
Shaheen expressed his delight at returning to the Pakistan Test squad after a year away, saying, “I am very excited to be returning to the Pakistan Test side after a year.” I missed Test cricket terribly and it was difficult for me to be away from it.
After missing our whole home season due to an injury I sustained in Sri Lanka, I am excited to make a mark in the same nation and reach a century of Test wickets. I want to thank my supporters for their support during difficult times, and I am ready for the difficulties that lie ahead.
Huraira has played 24 first-class matches, 10 List A matches, and six T20s, earning him the slot following an outstanding run.
In the previous two Quaid-e-Azam Trophy seasons, he was the highest run-scorer. The 21-year-old from Sialkot was the only hitter to score 1000 runs in the 2022-23 season, contributing significantly to Northern’s first-class victory.
Huraira scored 1,024 runs at an average of 73.14 in 11 matches, smashing four hundred and two half-centuries.
Last month, he resumed his first-class success with scores of 178 and 64 against Zimbabwe A in Kwekwe and Mutare.
He is the second-youngest batsman in Pakistan to register a first-class triple-century, after only the famous Javed Miandad.
Huraira accomplished the milestone in the 2021-22 season, batting 311 off 343 in Northern’s innings-and-a-half triumph against Balochistan at the State Bank Ground in Karachi.
Huraira will be joined by Aamir, a Northern and Shaheens colleague.
The 27-year-old from Mianwali led the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 2022-23 wicket-takers table, collecting 31 wickets at 29.71 and recording two five-wicket hauls.
He took 16 wickets at a score of 21 in the last six-match One-Day series against Zimbabwe Picked and Pakistan Shaheens.
Aamir’s career peak, though, was protecting 15 runs in the penultimate over against England’s Moeen Ali on his Pakistan debut last September. Aamir’s brilliant death bowling helped Pakistan beat England by six runs in the fifth T20 International of the seven-match series. Aamir has played two Tests, 23 first-class matches, 23 List-A matches, and 20 T20s.
‘Missed out’ players shouldn’t get ‘bogged down’.
I’d like to thank all of the players who have been named to the squad, particularly Mohammad Huraira and Aamir Jamal, who have advanced their cases via strong performances over time.
Haroon Rashid, the national men’s head selector, said of the team. We designed this team with the circumstances and obstacles that our players would face in Sri Lanka in mind. This is the opening series in the third stage of the ICC World Test Championship, and this group is quite capable of getting us off to a solid start.
The circumstances in Sri Lanka suit finger spinners, as we have observed over the years, and on Pakistan’s last visit to the island, therefore we have three of them to go with Abrar Ahmed’s mystery spin.
The guys who did not make the cut should not be discouraged since they are still very much a part of our plans. We have a fascinating and demanding season ahead of us, and they should take advantage of domestic cricket and Shaheens’ travels to prepare.
New bowling instructor
Meanwhile, the PCB has confirmed the hiring of Morne Morkel as the bowling coach for the national team.
The former South African pacer has signed a six-month deal with the national team. Morkel got 309 wickets in 86 Tests, 188 wickets in 117 ODIs, and 47 scalps in 44 T20Is throughout his 11-year international career.
In September 2017, he played for the World XI against Pakistan in Lahore.
Shaheen Shah Afridi has been recalled to Pakistan’s Test team for the upcoming two-match series against Sri Lanka. Muhammad Hurraira, a batter, and allrounder Aamer Jamal round out the 16-man squad. Both have received their first Test call-up.
Shahnawaz Dahani, Zahid Mahmood, and Kamran Ghulam were left out of the last Test team, which played a two-match home series against New Zealand in December-January.
Morne Morkel, the squad’s bowling mentor, has been hired on a six-month contract.
Afridi, who has 99 Test wickets, last appeared in the format in July 2022. That was also in Galle, against Sri Lanka, when he suffered a knee injury. In October, he made a comeback in the T20 World Cup but injured his knee again in the final. He led Lahore Qalandars to their second consecutive PSL win earlier this year. He also participated in the subsequent T20I and ODI series vs New Zealand, and he is now Nottinghamshire’s highest wicket-taker in the T20 Challenge in England.
