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PCB announce a 16-man squad for the 2-match Test series against Bangladesh

BouncerGuy

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The Men’s National Selection Committee has named a 16-member squad for the two-Test series between Pakistan and Bangladesh set to take place in Bangladesh next month. The schedule of the Test matches – part of the ICC World Test Championship 2025-27 will be announced by Bangladesh Cricket Board in due course.

Shan Masood will continue to lead the Test side, while four uncapped players – Abdullah Fazal, Amad Butt, Azan Awais and Muhammad Ghazi Ghori are part of the squad.

Among the squad, five players – Azan Awais, Imam-ul-Haq, Muhammad Ghazi Ghori, Noman Ali and Sajid Khan are currently taking part in the ongoing NCA Red-Ball Camp in Lahore.

The players will undergo a camp in Karachi and will assemble on Monday, 27 April. The camp will conclude on 1 May, with the players scheduled to fly to Bangladesh on 2 May. Players who are part of the Test squad and are currently taking part in HBL PSL Xl will join the camp following the conclusion of their team’s campaign. Players whose teams qualify for the final will depart for Bangladesh after the conclusion of the tournament.

The PCB also confirms the appointment of red-ball coaches for the Bangladesh tour, with former Test captain Sarfaraz Ahmed appointed as head coach. Sarfaraz, who won two ICC titles as captain of Pakistan – ICC U19 World Cup 2006 and ICC Champions Trophy 2017 also guided Pakistan U19 to the ACC Men’s U19 Asia Cup title as mentor/manager five months ago. He was also mentor/manager of Pakistan Shaheens against England Lions series earlier this year.

Former Test cricketers Asad Shafiq and Umar Gul will work as batting and bowling coaches, respectively, on the tour. Asad featured in 147 international matches (77 Tests, 60 ODIs, 10 T20Is), scoring 6,188 runs, including 12 centuries and 36 half-centuries. Right-arm fast bowler Umar featured in 237 international matches (47 Tests, 130 ODIs, 60 T20Is), taking 427 wickets.

16-member squad:

Shan Masood (captain), Abdullah Fazal, Amad Butt, Azan Awais, Babar Azam, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Muhammad Ghazi Ghori (wk), Noman Ali, Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Shah Afridi

Team management:

Naveed Akram Cheema (manager), Sarfaraz Ahmed (head coach), Asad Shafiq (batting coach), Umar Gul (bowling coach), Abdul Saad (fielding coach) Cliffe Deacon (physiotherapist), Grant Luden (strength and conditioning coach), Usman Hashmi (analyst), Syed Naeem Ahmad (media manager), Lt. Col. (r) Usman Anwari (security manager), Dr Wajid Ali Rafai (team doctor) and Muhammad Ehsan (masseur)

PCB
 
So, a former Pakistan captain appointed as head coach 3 years after his international career ends, I can't even remember the last time this happened... what's next, make him the chief selector too in some sort of dual role or something?
 
To become a better test team Pakistan need to find a decent opener who can score well outside Asia, a middle order batter who averages close to 50 at a decent strike rate and a fast bowler who can help win matches outside Asia. Until then we will continue to struggle outside Asia and not become a top 4 team even at home we need learn to win series instead of drawing them.
 
So Sarfraz - a guy with zero coaching experience, and who was responsible for ending our unbeaten record in UAE as captain is the new head-coach? Based on what? If he had a track-record of success behind him it would be one thing, but he lost home series to NZ and Sri Lanka and regularly showed himself to be a poor strategist and tactician in test cricket,
 
Azan awais and abdullah fazal are two good selections. They performed in president cup.

Ghazi ghouri in test cricket is not a bad selection, as he has performed in first class.

I would had also selected mohammad ammar a left handed batsman for wapda in the squad aswell.

Batting wise not that bad. Bowling wise not that impressed.

Would be funny watching a bearded fast bowler, first time after WG grace? The bowler im referring to is Amad Butt
 
Major said:
Azan awais and abdullah fazal are two good selections. They performed in president cup.

Ghazi ghouri in test cricket is not a bad selection, as he has performed in first class.

I would had also selected mohammad ammar a left handed batsman for wapda in the squad aswell.

Batting wise not that bad. Bowling wise not that impressed.

Would be funny watching a bearded fast bowler, first time after WG grace? The bowler im referring to is Amad Butt
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Correct chacha Grace wasnt a pacer lol
 
Just like PCB Chairman PCT has no future. A Parchi, money hungry, showoff and clueless guy is the chairman of PCB so his selection/contribution will also be questionable. PCT will be around 8-9 at the end of this Test championship.
 
Shafi said:
Just like PCB Chairman PCT has no future. A Parchi, money hungry, showoff and clueless guy is the chairman of PCB so his selection/contribution will also be questionable. PCT will be around 8-9 at the end of this Test championship.
Click to expand...
You had the same opinion before he became chairman
 
I don't know what talisman is being used by Sarfaraz but his elevation into so many roles is just astounding. A mentor in domestic cricket that ended with zero results, in charge of age cricket & A team setups with zero prior experience, selection committee, & now this.

Why can't our players climb their way up the ladder like in most setups? Join a club or academy and start your coaching career there. Learn people management, do some coaching courses to accumulate skill points, & then get a job in lower leagues as a coach. Eventually if you are successful at that level, you get a chance at the highest level.

Man literally announced his retirement a few weeks ago and now is in another power position.
 
In Pakistan cricket PR is everything. If you have strong PR behind you, you will get anywhere. Just look at Aqib's appointment as chief-selector. Nothing against Sarfraz - he seems like a nice guy and is one of the genuinely non-toxic Pakistani ex-cricketers, which is very rare these days. But this appointment as head-coach is based purely on PR. Alot of people still have this misconception that he was responsible for the U-19 Asia Cup win, when he was just a mentor and Shahid Anwar was the head-coach.
 
Nikhil_cric said:
Not sure why Saim Ayub has been dropped from both Tests and ODIs.
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They would rather give Imam chances to statpad then actually try to invest in Saim Ayub.

They will keep giving him chances in T20 - a format in which he has been absolutely rubbish and which is probably his worst format, but not the formats in which he could actually thrive and become a mainstay for Pakistan.

Even his bowling could add so much more value in the longer formats than it does it T20.
 
RedwoodOriginal said:
They would rather give Imam chances to statpad then actually try to invest in Saim Ayub.

They will keep giving him chances in T20 - a format in which he has been absolutely rubbish and which is probably his worst format, but not the formats in which he could actually thrive and become a mainstay for Pakistan.

Even his bowling could add so much more value in the longer formats than it does it T20.
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Yeah it's a completely stupid selection process. Saim is likely to be far more successful in longer formats where he doesn't have to go hacking at every length from ball 1.

Even worse decision will be if they drop Imam after this series and bring Saim back for the England series.
 
Nikhil_cric said:
Yeah it's a completely stupid selection process. Saim is likely to be far more successful in longer formats where he doesn't have to go hacking at every length from ball 1.

Even worse decision will be if they drop Imam after this series and bring Saim back for the England series.
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Selecting players in the wrong format is nothing new for Pakistani selectors. It used to be even worse, but it continues to be the case. Can't underestimate the role they play in mismanaging players.
 
Sarfaraz Ahmed as head coach is a decision. It just shows where PCB thinks Test Cricket is at.

Asif Afridi & Kamran Ghulam being dropped is a poor decision. I would have like to see Awais Zafar selected.

Would have picked Rohail Nazir ahead of Ghazi Ghori despite his good domestic numbers mainly due to the amount of experience Nazir has had. Both aren't perfect but both to be fair deserve a chance.

Babar's & Shaheen's continous selection's are poor decision. Mir Hamza would feel a little disheartened. But the selections of Azan Awais, Abdullah Fazal & Amad Butt are really good selections specially Butt, his selection had been coming.

1. Imam-ul-Haq
2. Azan Awais
3. Shan Masood (C)
4. Agha Ali Salman
5. Saud Shakeel
6. Ghazi Ghori (WK)
7. Amad Butt
8. Nauman Ali
9. Sajid Khan
10. Khurram Shahzad
11. Mohammad Abbas.

Too many left handers in top four, hence why I moved Agha up to 4. Obviously Babar, Rizwan & Shaheen will all play but Pakistan need to look at alternatives & increase the talent pool.
 
BouncerGuy said:
The Men’s National Selection Committee has named a 16-member squad for the two-Test series between Pakistan and Bangladesh set to take place in Bangladesh next month. The schedule of the Test matches – part of the ICC World Test Championship 2025-27 will be announced by Bangladesh Cricket Board in due course.

Shan Masood will continue to lead the Test side, while four uncapped players – Abdullah Fazal, Amad Butt, Azan Awais and Muhammad Ghazi Ghori are part of the squad.

Among the squad, five players – Azan Awais, Imam-ul-Haq, Muhammad Ghazi Ghori, Noman Ali and Sajid Khan are currently taking part in the ongoing NCA Red-Ball Camp in Lahore.

The players will undergo a camp in Karachi and will assemble on Monday, 27 April. The camp will conclude on 1 May, with the players scheduled to fly to Bangladesh on 2 May. Players who are part of the Test squad and are currently taking part in HBL PSL Xl will join the camp following the conclusion of their team’s campaign. Players whose teams qualify for the final will depart for Bangladesh after the conclusion of the tournament.

The PCB also confirms the appointment of red-ball coaches for the Bangladesh tour, with former Test captain Sarfaraz Ahmed appointed as head coach. Sarfaraz, who won two ICC titles as captain of Pakistan – ICC U19 World Cup 2006 and ICC Champions Trophy 2017 also guided Pakistan U19 to the ACC Men’s U19 Asia Cup title as mentor/manager five months ago. He was also mentor/manager of Pakistan Shaheens against England Lions series earlier this year.

Former Test cricketers Asad Shafiq and Umar Gul will work as batting and bowling coaches, respectively, on the tour. Asad featured in 147 international matches (77 Tests, 60 ODIs, 10 T20Is), scoring 6,188 runs, including 12 centuries and 36 half-centuries. Right-arm fast bowler Umar featured in 237 international matches (47 Tests, 130 ODIs, 60 T20Is), taking 427 wickets.

16-member squad:

Shan Masood (captain), Abdullah Fazal, Amad Butt, Azan Awais, Babar Azam, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Muhammad Ghazi Ghori (wk), Noman Ali, Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Shah Afridi

Team management:

Naveed Akram Cheema (manager), Sarfaraz Ahmed (head coach), Asad Shafiq (batting coach), Umar Gul (bowling coach), Abdul Saad (fielding coach) Cliffe Deacon (physiotherapist), Grant Luden (strength and conditioning coach), Usman Hashmi (analyst), Syed Naeem Ahmad (media manager), Lt. Col. (r) Usman Anwari (security manager), Dr Wajid Ali Rafai (team doctor) and Muhammad Ehsan (masseur)

PCB
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Pakistan has a 12-man support team? 😳
 
GoUgandaCranes said:
I don't know what talisman is being used by Sarfaraz but his elevation into so many roles is just astounding. A mentor in domestic cricket that ended with zero results, in charge of age cricket & A team setups with zero prior experience, selection committee, & now this.

Why can't our players climb their way up the ladder like in most setups? Join a club or academy and start your coaching career there. Learn people management, do some coaching courses to accumulate skill points, & then get a job in lower leagues as a coach. Eventually if you are successful at that level, you get a chance at the highest level.

Man literally announced his retirement a few weeks ago and now is in another power position.
Click to expand...
In Pakistan the PCB selects someone and expects him to be the answer to all their problems. They did it with Misbah; giving him an unnecessary amount of power by making him chief-selector and head-coach. Then they repeated the same mistake with Aqib (I guess he is smart enough to maintain good relations with Naqvi which explains why he is still there), and now they are doing it with Sarfraz.

Over time, all of them fall out of favor with the PCB because eventually the Pakistan cricket team performs as per expectation... as they generally have over the last decade, because PCB in all its infinite wisdom, fail to comprehend the roots of the issues lie in how fundamentally screwed up the system really is. Even if they do understand it, they are not interested in fixing it. To them going all in on these personalities is the answer, even when history has shown that has never worked out.
 
RedwoodOriginal said:
In Pakistan the PCB selects someone and expects him to be the answer to all their problems. They did it with Misbah; giving him an unnecessary amount of power by making him chief-selector and head-coach. Then they repeated the same mistake with Aqib (I guess he is smart enough to maintain good relations with Naqvi which explains why he is still there), and now they are doing it with Sarfraz.

Over time, all of them fall out of favor with the PCB because eventually the Pakistan cricket team performs as per expectation... as they generally have over the last decade, because PCB in all its infinite wisdom, fail to comprehend the roots of the issues lie in how fundamentally screwed up the system really is. Even if they do understand it, they are not interested in fixing it. To them going all in on these personalities is the answer, even when history has shown that has never worked out.
Click to expand...

True.

Too many visionless people in big chairs.
 
TeymurBlake said:
Sarfaraz Ahmed as head coach is a decision. It just shows where PCB thinks Test Cricket is at.

Asif Afridi & Kamran Ghulam being dropped is a poor decision. I would have like to see Awais Zafar selected.

Would have picked Rohail Nazir ahead of Ghazi Ghori despite his good domestic numbers mainly due to the amount of experience Nazir has had. Both aren't perfect but both to be fair deserve a chance.

Babar's & Shaheen's continous selection's are poor decision. Mir Hamza would feel a little disheartened. But the selections of Azan Awais, Abdullah Fazal & Amad Butt are really good selections specially Butt, his selection had been coming.

1. Imam-ul-Haq
2. Azan Awais
3. Shan Masood (C)
4. Agha Ali Salman
5. Saud Shakeel
6. Ghazi Ghori (WK)
7. Amad Butt
8. Nauman Ali
9. Sajid Khan
10. Khurram Shahzad
11. Mohammad Abbas.

Too many left handers in top four, hence why I moved Agha up to 4. Obviously Babar, Rizwan & Shaheen will all play but Pakistan need to look at alternatives & increase the talent pool.
Click to expand...
Tell me about Butt? I have not keeping up with him, what has he done, recently?
 
My XI for the Series

01. Imam ul haq
02. Azan Awais
03. Shan Masood*
04. Babar Azam
05. Saud Shakeel
06. Muhammad Rizwan+
07. Salman Ali Agha
08. Shaheen Afridi
09. Noman Ali
10. Sajid Khan
11. Mohammad Abbas


Saud Shakeel and Azan Awais should score big for the team. They got a big chance specially Saud Shakeel, he is a very good player of spin
 
Abdullah and Saim dropped for Azan Awais & Fazal. I like the Awais pick but Fazal selection seems premature. He's been good in FC but not quite exceptional to warrant a selection so quick. Discarding Hurraira so quick seems silly too.

Shaheen should have been rested. he has been playing non stop for months. He is likely to not be of much use in Bangladesh pitches and they can bring him back for WI/Eng series while giving him enough rest.

Interesting pick with Amad Butt. He's been good in domestic and a pace allrounder has been a glaring weakness. It seems ike Jamal isn't in their plans anymore and Faheem is simply too mediocre with his bowling to pose any threat whatsoever. Might be the case with Butt too but his bowling track record in FC is a lot stronger than Faheem so maybe there is some hope he can deliver in England. I don't think we will see him used this series but seems like they are planning to keep him around to use in WI/England.

Ghazi Ghori has good FC numbers but let him develop a bit first. Another premature selection IMO.

An OK squad but its scary to see how few Tests pace bowling options exist of Pakistan. Nobody all that quick either...
 
Nasty Naz said:
Abdullah and Saim dropped for Azan Awais & Fazal. I like the Awais pick but Fazal selection seems premature. He's been good in FC but not quite exceptional to warrant a selection so quick. Discarding Hurraira so quick seems silly too.

Shaheen should have been rested. he has been playing non stop for months. He is likely to not be of much use in Bangladesh pitches and they can bring him back for WI/Eng series while giving him enough rest.

Interesting pick with Amad Butt. He's been good in domestic and a pace allrounder has been a glaring weakness. It seems ike Jamal isn't in their plans anymore and Faheem is simply too mediocre with his bowling to pose any threat whatsoever. Might be the case with Butt too but his bowling track record in FC is a lot stronger than Faheem so maybe there is some hope he can deliver in England. I don't think we will see him used this series but seems like they are planning to keep him around to use in WI/England.

Ghazi Ghori has good FC numbers but let him develop a bit first. Another premature selection IMO.

An OK squad but its scary to see how few Tests pace bowling options exist of Pakistan. Nobody all that quick either...
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Saim Ayub axing makes no sense to me. Especially when they have carried Abdullah Shafique for as long as they have despite a long line of failures and glaring technical flaws in his batting.

Kamran Ghulam axing is also harsh.
 
LordJames said:
Tell me about Butt? I have not keeping up with him, what has he done, recently?
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The guy has toiled in domestic cricket. He deserved a chance.

Pakistan doesn’t have a plethora to borderline none pacing bowling all rounders. International caps for Pakistan have been handed out for cheap. Amad Butt has earned his chance.
 
Odd to not have a third specialist spinner.

What will happen after Noman and Sajid? They should be grooming someone in their squads when one of these spinners drops off.
 
crap squad tbf, along with crap management, and I just realized how pathetic Pak is against spin in tests it's one goign to be one hell of an LOL Classico between these two test teams, only thing that gives me confidence is bangladeh are even more pathetic, but does'nt matter since they defeated pak last year on rawalpindi roads, and defeated them in ODI series, Pak's pace attack also looks trash as hell, most of them can't even bowl great for 4 overs even BD, SL has better fast bowlers,
 
I think we need to try new spinners as we are blessed in that department give Noman a farewell series he is 40 plus now also we need genuine pacer we keep hearing there are no pacers in domestic setup but in psl few emerging youngsters are bowling 90 plus Razzaullah Ali raza Mohammad ishtiaq all capable of bowling quick need to bring in some of these guys and see how they do shaeen hassan ali are finished amad butt don't know how he's got in.
 
I was quite surprised at the call up for Abbas. He is doing ok at county at the moment. Would much rather he play there and get him more bowling before the England series. Don't see him being particularly useful in Bangladesh, unless the Bangladeshis want to make seaming wickets.
 
DeadlyVenom said:
I was quite surprised at the call up for Abbas. He is doing ok at county at the moment. Would much rather he play there and get him more bowling before the England series. Don't see him being particularly useful in Bangladesh, unless the Bangladeshis want to make seaming wickets.
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You think those 2 matches abbas played this season for almost bottom of a Div2 county get him ready for an England series? He needs to play as many internationals as possible wherever he can not just because you think English conditions suit him
 
Really feel sad for Kamran Ghulam. What more can you do but be selected and perform only to be dropped for no reason. Of course you want him to keep on making massive scores in first class or even PSL which he hasn’t done but still he’s a talent and should be brought back.
 
Abid Z said:
You think those 2 matches abbas played this season for almost bottom of a Div2 county get him ready for an England series? He needs to play as many internationals as possible wherever he can not just because you think English conditions suit him
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Sure, if he plays, but I'm not sure if he will play ahead of Hassan Ali, Shaheen or Khurram. if we play 2 spinners + 2 spinner combo.
 
DeadlyVenom said:
Sure, if he plays, but I'm not sure if he will play ahead of Hassan Ali, Shaheen or Khurram. if we play 2 spinners + 2 spinner combo.
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Of course he will play he’s the best test bowler we have. He’s not going site seeing. Only one of khurram or Hassan can play they are pretty much like for like and both injury prone though khurram is quite young and performs in at least one match before breaking down.
 
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