LAHORE: Pakistan cricket selectors have retained the same 17 players for the second Test who were shortlisted for the first Test that was played in Karachi from January 26 to 30.
The playing line-up with now be finalised by the captain in consultation with the head coach for the match, which will commence at the Pindi Cricket Stadium from Thursday (today).
The 17-player squad is: Openers – Abid Ali (Central Punjab) and Imran Butt (Balochistan), Middle-order batsmen - Azhar Ali (Central Punjab), Babar Azam (captain, Central Punjab), Fawad Alam (Sindh) and Saud Shakeel (Sindh), all-rounders – Faheem Ashraf (Central Punjab) and Mohammad Nawaz (Northern), wicketkeepers – Mohammad Rizwan (vice-captain, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) and Sarfaraz Ahmed (Sindh), spinners – Nauman Ali (Northern), Sajid Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) and Yasir Shah (Balochistan); fast bowlers – Haris Rauf (Northern), Hasan Ali (Central Punjab), Shaheen Shah Afridi (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) and Tabish Khan (Sindh).
Pakistani Skipper Babar Azam said on Wednesday that the Playing XI will be finalized after seeing the pitch, weather and conditions at the Pindi Stadium, Rawalpindi on Thursday morning.
Babar said the boys worked hard during the practice sessions and the players were high in morale after winning the first Test against South Africa.
“The way we played the first match we will try to perform the same in the second. We will not take South African team easy as we know they can bounce back,” he said.
He said he was enjoying the Test captaincy and the players and team were supporting him.
“The captaincy becomes easy when the players and team supports you. We will stick to the same plan and focus and hopefully will win the second test,” he said.
He said he would be missing the Rawalpindi crowd which gave him so much love and honour when he scored a 143 in the Test match against Bangladesh last year. He also lauded youngsters Abdullah Shafiq and Saud Shakeel saying they have been performing well.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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