Pakistan is all set to face England in a three-match Test series next month. The series opener against the Ben Stokes-led side is scheduled to take place in Multan from October 7, and the same venue will also host the second match from October 15-19. Karachi’s National Stadium was initially selected to host the second Test, but due to ongoing construction work at the stadium, the match has been moved out of Karachi.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is all set to announce the squad for the home series later this week, and according to a report in Cricket Pakistan, three to four players could be dropped from the team that faced Bangladesh.
Pakistan faced Bangladesh in a two-match Test series last month but suffered shocking defeats in both matches. Despite the team’s poor performance under his leadership, Shan Masood, who assumed Pakistan’s Test captaincy last year, is likely to retain his job. The left-handed batter has lost all five matches played so far as captain of Pakistan’s Test team.
It was reported earlier this month that he will be sacked, but recent reports suggest that he will get one more chance, and in fact, he will have his say in the selection of players as well for the upcoming high-profile series at home.
After consulting with the captain and head coach, the selection committee will finalise a list of potential players, and after getting approval by the PCB chairman, the squad will be officially announced.
Pakistan dropped pacers Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah from the playing XI for the second Test against Bangladesh, and it will be interesting to see if they are picked in the side or not. Opening batters Abdullah Shafique and Saim Ayub’s form has also been an issue for Pakistan for quite some time now, and star batter Babar Azam has also not scored a fifty-plus score in his last 16 Test innings.
While Babar is unlikely to get dropped from the team, the same can’t be said about Saim and Shafique, who faced severe criticism for the flop show against Bangladesh.
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