From the squad that toured Australia earlier this year, Imam-ul-Haq, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Nawaz, Noman Ali and Sajid Khan failed to make the cut this time, while Hasan Ali and Mohammad Wasim are injured.
Hurraira, 22, averages 56.24 from 39 first-class games which recently saw him smash 218 against Bangladesh A in the only game he played last month. In the 2022-23 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, Huraira scored 1024 runs (the only batter to score over 1000 runs) in 11 matches for Northern. In the 2023-24 season, he scored another 961 runs in 14 matches for Faisalabad Region and Higher Education Commission (HEC). He was part of the Test squad for the Sri Lanka tour in July 2023 but didn’t get a game when Pakistan won the series 2-0.
The Pakistan squad will start training in a camp from August 11 in Rawalpindi under head coach Jason Gillespie and assistant coach Azhar Mahmood, while the Bangladesh side will arrive in Islamabad on August 17. The two Tests, part of the World Test Championship, will be played from August 21 to 25 in Rawalpindi and August 30 to September 3 in Karachi.
The selectors also named a Pakistan Shaheen squad for the first four-day game against Bangladesh A, for which revised dates are expected to be announced soon. Shakeel will lead the A side that will include Naseem, Ghulam, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Hurraira, Saim Ayub and Sarfaraz Ahmed among others. The Shaheens will start training on Wednesday under head coach Umar Gul. Gillespie and Mahmood will assist Gul before moving to the national side’s camp. Once the four-day game is over, the eight Test probables will join the main Test squad and the selectors will name their replacements in the Shaheens squad for the remaining matches.
Given the political unrest and turmoil in Bangladesh, the BCB had to postpone their A team’s departure for Pakistan initially by 48 hours.
“The PCB has been in contact with the Bangladesh Cricket Board and it is expected that the revised schedule of the Pakistan Shaheens versus Bangladesh ‘A’ series will be announced shortly,” the PCB release said on Wednesday while announcing the squads.
Pakistan Test squad for Bangladesh series
Shan Masood (capt), Saud Shakeel (vice-capt), Aamer Jamal (subject to fitness), Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Muhammad Hurraira, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Agha Salman, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Shaheen Shah Afridi
Pakistan Shaheen squad for the first game against Bangladesh A
Saud Shakeel (capt), Kamran Ghulam, Mehran Mumtaz, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Rameez Jnr, Mohammad Huraira, Naseem Shah, Saad Baig (wk), Saad Khan, Saim Ayub, Sameen Gul, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Umar Amen
