ENG v PAK: Sarfaraz Ahmed named in 16-man Pakistan squad for 1st Test in Manchester
Cricket | August 04, 2020 18:48 ISTPakistan captain Azhar Ali announced the squad in an interaction with reporters on the eve of the series.
Pakistan captain Azhar Ali announced the squad in an interaction with reporters on the eve of the series.
Riaz, who last played a Test match for Pakistan in October 2018, had taken an indefinite break from the format last year.
Azhar Ali and Sarfaraz Ahmed will lead the two sides as they take each other on in an intra-squad match to prepare for three-Test series against England.
Inzamam remained chief selector from 2016 till the 2019 World Cup. During his tenure, most of the time Sarfaraz remained captain.
Latif feels Sarfaraz will keep wickets in the T20I series and will sit on the bench in the Tests.
Pakistan and India last played a bilateral series in January 2013. Since then, the two have only faced each other only in ICC and Asia Cup tournaments.
Former Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed is making a comeback to the side for the tour to England.
Sarfaraz was also demoted to category B in the recently-announced annual central contracts for the 2020/21 season. Pace bowlers Wahab Riaz and Mohammad Aamir were axed from the contract list.
Pakistan's head coach-cum-selector Misbah-ul-Haq defended the axing of senior players like Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Aamir and Hasan Ali from the central contracts list.
Naseem Shah and Iftikhar Ahmad were the two new faces in the 18-player men's central contract list. And Shaheen Shah Afridi is one of the four players to get promotions.
According to details, the Board has also decided against reducing the central contract retainers or match fees for the players despite the coronavirus pandemic suspending all cricket activities around the world.
Three years after bagging the No.1 Test rank, Pakistan have managed just eight Test victories in 26 matches, better only to Bangladesh among top-9 full-member nations, and have slipped well below to No.8 spot in the ICC Test rankings.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan advised sacked captain Sarfaraz Ahmed to focus on domestic cricket, and also backed Misbah-ul-Haq as head coach.
Senior players Shoaib Malik, Muhammad Hafeez and Ahmed Shehzad also did not figure in the T20 squad for the important tour.
Protesters gathered in front of Sarfaraz's home in the southern port city of Karachi on Sunday.
Dismissing rumors that the board had decided to relegate Sarfaraz to a lower category, a PCB spokesperson said Sarfaraz would retain his top category in the central contracts which run till July next year.
Besides being stripped off captaincy, Sarfaraz has also been dropped for the upcoming tour of Australia, where Pakistan will play three T20Is and two Tests.
While Azhar Ali has been named as Pakistan's new Test skipper, Babar Azam will take on the responsibility for the T20I side. The decision for the ODI captaincy has been put on hold.
Former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar was critical of Sarfaraz Ahmed, saying that the wicketkeeper-batsman was a 'timid' captain.
PCB committed a major blunder by posting a video from their official Twitter account, where some of the Pakistani players were seen dancing.
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