Pakistan team has released the mystery spinner Abrar Ahmed from the squad for the first Test match against Bangladesh in Rawalpindi. The decision, which was confirmed by a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Press Release on Saturday, was made to allow the rookie spinner to feature in Pakistan Shaheen’s team for the second four-day game against Bangladesh A. In addition to Abrar, the uncapped batter, Kamran Ghulam was let go from the senior team squad as well.
“Wrist spinner Abrar Ahmed has been released from the Pakistan Test side and he will now represent Pakistan Shaheens in the second four-day match against Bangladesh ‘A’, which will start at the Islamabad Club on Tuesday, 20 August,” the press release read.
Reports that state the Rawalpindi pitch to have a fast bowler-friendly surface have led the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to take this decision. This means that the Shan Masood-led team will field an all-pacers attack against Bangladesh in the first Test match.
“The decision has been made after the selectors have opted to go with an all-pace attack in the first ICC World Test Championship match against Bangladesh at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Wednesday, 21 August. Instead of benching him for the Test, the selectors named him in the Shaheens squad so that he can gain some match practice ahead of the second Test, which will start in Karachi on 30 August.
Uncapped top-order batter Kamran Ghulam is the other player to be released from the Pakistan Test side and has been retained in the Pakistan Shaheens side for the second four-day match. He has also been appointed as the captain.”
It would be interesting to see how the quicks do without the young spinner. Since his debut, the wrist-spinner has bowled the most overs for Pakistan in Test matches. He also leads the most wickets chart with 38 scalps in 12 innings. In short, the 25-year-old has been majorly carrying Pakistan’s bowling for the past few Test series.
Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah will be joined by any two of the new guys including Mohammad Ali, Mir Hamza, and Khurram Shehzad. Although fast bowling all-rounder Aamer Jamal, who proved his mettle against Australia down under earlier this year, is also a part of the squad, he is likely not to be included owing to his lower back pain. The spin department will, in this scenario, be handled by the spin all-rounder, Agha Salman, who will play as the 5th bowler.
Abrar Ahmed last donned whites for Pakistan back in July 2023 against Sri Lanka. An injury saw him sidelined during the Test tour against Australia. PCB release revealed that both Abrar and Kamran will rejoin the squad for the second Test match and one can expect him to flaunt his wrist-spin during the Karachi Test match.
“This means the Pakistan Test has been trimmed to 15 players, but will be back to its original 17-player strength after the conclusion of the second four-day match when Abrar and Kamran will rejoin the side for the Karachi visit.”
Rawalpindi’s deck has previously been criticized immensely for its lifeless surface during the 2022-23 Winter. If the reports are to be believed that the deck will be bouncy, this could bring loads of excitement to the long-format matches, for which the ticket prices have been kept as low as PKR 50.
Pakistan Squad (first Test): Shan Masood (c), Saud Shakeel (vc), Aamir Jamal (subject to Fitness), Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Huraira, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Shaheen Afridi
