Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on December 4 announced the squads for all-format tour of South Africa starting December 10. While Babar Azam, Naseem Shah returned to the Test squad after being rested for the two Tests at home against England, left-arm pacer Shaheen Afridi and in-form spinner Sajid Khan have been dropped. Pacer Mohammad Abbas has made a comeback into the squad as well.
In addition, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Huraira, Mehran Mumtaz and Zahid Mahmood have been dropped from the Test squad as well. The only speciallist spinner in the squad is left-arm spinner Noman Ali.
Why Sajid, Afridi were left out?
The notable ommission Sajid played a huge role in ending Pakistan's drought of wins in Test cricket. In the second Test in Multan, he took nine wickets including a seven-wicket haul in the first innings. In the following Test in Rawalpindi, he took eight wickets including a six-wicket haul in the second innings. In addition, he contributed with an unbeaten quickfire 48 as well.
“We have adopted a horses for courses policy to ensure all three squads are well-balanced and capable of performing strongly in South Africa," member of selection committee, Aqib Javed said in a statement released by PCB
“Leaving out Sajid Khan, despite his stellar performances against England, was an extremely tough and difficult decision. However, considering the pace-friendly conditions at Centurion and in Cape Town, we opted for Mohammad Abbas instead, who is an outstanding exponent of seam bowling," he added.
Meanwhile, the left-arm pacer Afridi has been dropped keeping in mind the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. Afridi is there in the ODI and T20I squads for South Africa tour.
Test series schedule
The two-Test series will begin on December 26 in Centurion. The second Test will be played in Cape Town starting January 7, 2025.
Pakistan Test squad vs South Africa
Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Haseebullah (wk), Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub and Salman Ali Agha
