Daily Times

LAHORE: Pakistan cricket selectors, headed by former Test captain Inzamamul Haq, on Friday recalled fast bowler Mohammad Amir, leg spinner Shadab Khan, batsmen Fakhar Zaman and Shan Masood to a 16-member national squad named for a three-match Test series against South Africa in South Africa later this month. Skipper Sarfraz Ahmed and his men will open their tour with the first Test at Centurion from December 26 to 30, the second Test will be played at Cape Town from Jan 3 to 7 next year, while the third and final match is in Johannesburg from Jan 11 to 15. Pakistan will also play five one-day internationals and three Twenty20 internationals on the tour, for which squads will be announced later. “The best possible squad have been selected keeping in mind the conditions of South Africa,” said chief selector Inzamam.

Inzamam’s nephew opener Imamul Haq gets another chance despite scoring a mere 73 runs in three Tests against New Zealand recently. Shan comes in following the Test retirement of Mohammad Hafeez. Zaman made his Test debut against Australia before he was ruled out of the New Zealand series with a knee injury, while Shadab missed both series due to a hamstring problem. Mohammad Rizwan, who has previously played one Test in Hamilton in November 2016, has also been included as the second wicketkeeping option behind captain Sarfraz. The selectors have left out offspinner Bilal Asif, fast bowler Mir Hamza, and the uncapped batsman Saad Ali, who were all part of the squad against New Zealand.

Amir was dropped from the side after failing to get a single wicket in three Asia Cup matches in United Arab Emirates (UAE) in September this year. He missed Pakistan’s two-match Test series against Australia and then three Tests against New Zealand – both in UAE – but the chief selector said the left-armer had regained his form in domestic matches. Amir showed excellent form in first-class cricket, picking up 23 wickets in his last four Quaid-e-Azam Trophy matches at an average of 13.61. “Amir makes a comeback in the team after regaining his form in domestic cricket, giving strength to a fast bowling attack that includes four pace bowlers,” said Inzamam. “Amir is a wonderful bowler and we all know how skillful he is. But since his return he went through a lot of workload and didn’t get enough time to rest. He was always in our plans. He was dropped for his good, to allow him to go back and not only rest but also work on his deficiencies,” the chief selector added.

Squad: Sarfraz Ahmed (captain), Imamul Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Shan Masood, Azhar Ali, Haris Sohail, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Yasir Shah, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Abbas, Hassan Ali, Mohammad Amir, Faheem Ashraf and Shaheen Shah Afridi.

Published in Daily Times, December 8^th 2018.