Karachi: The Pakistan selectors on Sunday retained six uncapped players in the pruned 17-man squad, named for the first Test against South Africa.
The uncapped players include off-spinner Sajid Khan and left-arm spinner Nauman Ali, who are expected to partner the experienced leggie Yasir Shah in the match, starting Tuesday in Karachi.
The other uncapped players are opener, Imran Butt, who recently toured New Zealand and pacers, Haris Rauf and Tabish Khan.
Rauf played in the T20 matches in New Zealand but is yet to play a Test. He has just three first class games under his belt.
The selectors also retained former captain and wicketkeeper, Sarfaraz Ahmed in the squad as a standby to vice-captain, Muhammad Rizwan.
Sarfaraz has been part of the Pakistan squads which toured England and New Zealand but has played just one T20 game on both tours where Rizwan has been the first choice keeper.
The PCB said in a press release that the three players dropped from the 20-member squad — Kamran Ghulam , Abdullah Shafique and Salman Agha — will continue to be part of the squad and will feature in warm-up and training sessions at the National Stadium.
The playing line-up with now be finalised by the captain in consultation with the head coach.
The 17-player squad: Openers – Abid Ali and Imran Butt. Middle-order batsmen – Azhar Ali, Babar Azam, Fawad Alam and Saud Shakeel. All-rounders – Faheem Ashraf and Mohammad Nawaz. Wicketkeepers – Mohammad Rizwan and Sarfaraz Ahmed. Spinners – Nauman Ali, Sajid Khan and Yasir Shah. Fast bowlers – Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Tabish Khan..
