Daily Times

LAHORE: Pakistan cricket selectors, led by former Test skipper Inzamamul Haq, on Saturday recalled spinner Yasir Shah, fast bowler Wahab Riaz and opening batsman Azhar Ali to a 16-member squad named for a two-Test Sri Lanka series starting in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) later this month. The selectors have dropped Ahmad Shahzad, Mohammad Hafeez and Mohammad Rizwan from the national outfit. The first Test starts in Abu Dhabi from Thursday (September 28). The second Test – a day-night affair – will be played in Dubai from October 6. The two teams will also play five ODIs and three T20Is, the last of which will be in Lahore on October 29 – subject to security clearance. The series will be Pakistan’s first without stalwarts Younus Khan and former skipper Misbahul Haq, who both retired following the team’s series in the West Indies in May this year.

The squad was meant to be announced on Friday but was pushed until Saturday morning, allowing Yasir to undergo another fitness test to reach a value acceptable for a player to be selected. He was the Player of the Series in Pakistan’s last Test assignment in the West Indies earlier this year with 25 wickets in three Tests. The 31-year-old Yasir has been team’s leading wicket-taker since making his debut in 2014, with a tally of 149 scalps in 26 Tests. Yasir’s 24 wickets in three Tests helped Pakistan beat Sri Lanka away in 2015 but the stocky spinner has struggled for fitness in the past few months.

Explaining Yasir and Azhar’s selection, who previously suffered fitness problems, Inzamam said that both had cleared the fitness test. “We told Yasir that he will not be selected if he does not clear the fitness test,” he said. “Even though no bowler has been as successful as Yasir in the Test format, but we had to uphold the standards that were set. Azhar has a cyst in his knee but after taking injections that were prescribed by the doctors, he is fine and can play now.”

The Test series comes after the Independence Cup between Pakistan and the World XI that was held in Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore earlier this month.

Sarfraz Ahmad, already leading Pakistan in ODIs and T20Is, will lead the Test side for the first time, with youngsters Usman Salahuddin and Babar Azam likely to fill in for the two greats. “I am sure youngsters will try their best to fill the places left by Misbah and Younus and do their best,” said Inzamam. The selectors have also picked 25-year-old uncapped left-arm fast bowler Mir Hamza who has taken 216 wickets in 46 first-class matches. The 31-year-old spinner Bilal Asif has not played a Test but has featured in three ODIs in the past.

Much of the early focus will be on Haris Sohail and Usman, as Pakistan look to make up for losing over 15000 Test runs and nearly 200 Tests worth of experience in the middle order. Both are uncapped in Tests, but have represented Pakistan. Usman played two ODIs for Pakistan in 2011, but Sohail was, for a while after his debut in July 2013, a near-fixture in the ODI side.

“I have been thinking of both Usman and Haris over the last few series, envisaging the situation after seniors retired. Both have done well. Usman has done well as a middle-order batsman while Harris could have made it into the side in 2015 but was injured. So the idea is to give our youngsters an opportunity in our own conditions rather than playing them in away series. This will increase their confidence and both have the potential to fill in for Younus and Misbah. But it does not mean the door is shut on other players making it into the side. Performances will obviously be considered and, if a player is good enough, he can definitely be selected.”

The selectors have named five fast bowlers and three specialist spinners, a move Inzamam said was aimed at managing the workload of the bowlers who are better on flat tracks in the UAE. “We all understand that pitches in the UAE are a batting paradise, and there is a big opportunity for batsmen to score runs. It’s really a big challenge to get any team out twice so we have to strengthen our bowling. That’s why we have five fast bowlers with three spinners in our squad. Since the temperature will be around 40 degrees Celsius, we probably have to consider rotating our fast bowlers as well,” he concluded.

Pakistan squad: Sarfraz Ahmad (captain), Azhar Ali, Shan Masood, Sami Aslam, Babar Azam, Asad Shafiq, Haris Sohail, Usman Salahuddin, Yasir Shah, Mohammad Asghar, Bilal Asif, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Amir, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Abbas and Wahab Riaz.

Published in Daily Times, September 24^th 2017.