The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) unveiled their twenty-player team for the Test series against South Africa on Thursday.
According to Chief Selector National Cricket Squad Mohammad Waseem, who addressed at a news conference in Rawalpindi on Thursday, Babar Azam will lead the team, and Mohammad Rizwan will serve as vice-captain.
Tabish Khan And Agha Salman Included In The Pakistan Test Squad
Additional squad players include Mohammad Nawaz, Nauman Ali, Sajid Khan, Hassan Ali, Haris Rauf, and Tabish Khan in addition to Abid Ali, Imran Butt, Azhar Ali, Fawad Alam, Sarfraz Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Yasir Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Abdullah Shafique, Agha Salman, Saud Shakeel, and Kamran Ghulam.
The Chief Selector claimed that when selecting the team, the players’ earlier performances were taken into account. He asserted that the players’ core contracts were determined after taking into account their fielding and conditioning.
Men’s central contract lists for 2022–23 were already issued by the Pakistan Cricket Board and are effective as of Friday, July 1. The PCB has added four additional players to the Emerging Category and for the first time separated red and white-ball contracts. As a result, 33 players in total—13 more than the previous season—have signed contracts for the following 12 months.
Both red and white-ball contracts have been given to Pakistan’s all-format captain Babar Azam, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Rizwan, and Shaheen Shah Afridi.
Azhar Ali Upgraded To Category A Contract
Azhar Ali, one of the ten players who have been given red-ball contracts, has been upgraded to Category A, while Naseem Shah, Abdullah Shafique, and Saud Shakeel have all been given Category C contracts for the first time. Saud Shakeel has been given Category D.
In the Emerging Category, the PCB has expanded the number of players from three to seven as part of its aim to support, nurture, and reward up-and-coming domestic performers. Ali Usman, Haseebullah, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Huraira, Qasim Akram, and Salman Ali Agha are the athletes in the emerging category.