Karachi: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has once again appointed star batsman Babar Azam as the captain of Pakistan’s Test team. PCB took away the captaincy from Babar Azam in 2023 and gave it to Shan Masood. But the Pak team under Masood’s leadership was constantly performing poorly. Now the board has once again made Babar Azam the Test captain.

PCB has announced the Pakistan squad for the West Indies and England Test series. Star fast bowler Shaheen Afridi has been dropped from the team. At the same time Hasan Ali and Noman Ali also did not get a place in the team for these two series.

Pakistan played 16 Test matches under the leadership of Shan Masood. Out of that they had to face defeat in 12 Tests. Recently, the Pakistan team had to lose the Test series against Bangladesh. Along with this, the Pakistan team was also whitewashed in the Test series against South Africa and Australia.

PCB has announced the 16-man squad for the West Indies series. However, Saud Shakeel has been named as the 17th player in the squad for the tour of England. However, Shakil will have to undergo a fitness test before being included in the team. The selectors included four young players in the squad for the first time. These four players are left-arm spinner Ali Usman, batsman Mohammad Awais Zafar, fast bowler Ubaid Shah and wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Ghazi Ghori.

Pakistan team will leave for West Indies first. Pak team will play two test matches in West Indies. The first Test of this series will be played from July 25 to 29. The second Test match will be played in Port of Spain from August 2 to 6. The Pak team will then travel to England for a three-match Test series. The three Test matches will be played between August 19 and September 13 at Leeds, Lord’s and Birmingham.

Pakistan Test squad to tour West Indies and England

Babar Azam (captain), Amir Jamal, Abdullah Fazal, Ali Usman, Azan Awais, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Awais Zafar, Mohammad Ghazi Ghori (wicketkeeper), Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Shan Masood and Ubaid Shah (Saud Shakeel to be part of squad for England tour if he passes fitness test)