Wahab Riaz, who leads the selection committee, has chosen Sajid Khan, the off-spinner, to replace Abrar.
It’s bad news for Pakistan as their mysterious spinner, Abrar Ahmed, won’t be playing in the first Test match against Australia in Perth on December 14.
In a recent first-class match against the Australian Prime Minister’s XI, Abrar took one wicket and bowled for 27 overs. Unfortunately, he had to stop playing due to severe pain in his right leg around the knee.
Today, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) confirmed that the bowler won’t be playing in the first Test of the three-match series.
The medical team assessed the player and made a preliminary diagnosis, prompting them to conduct an MRI scan on the same day, as stated in the official PCB announcement.
Abrar will undergo a procedure in Perth on Monday. After that, he will follow a careful recovery plan supervised by the team’s medical staff.
While Abrar’s exclusion from the entire test series hasn’t been officially announced, the team management will assess his availability before the second test to ensure his well-being for this and future tours.
He hasn’t been ruled out of the test series for now. However, considering the player’s well-being for this and future tours, a more thorough assessment before the second test will determine if he can continue on this tour.
In the meantime, Sajid Khan, who is an off-spinner, has been given the green light by the chairman of the selection committee, Wahab Riaz. He will head to Perth once his travel plans are sorted out, as mentioned in the press release.
Pakistan is embarking on its first Test tour to Australia since 2019, and the last experience was not great. They faced a 2-0 loss in both games under the captaincy of Azhar Ali.
Also, it’s worth noting that Pakistan has never won a Test series in Australia throughout their history.
Australia tour schedule
- The first Test match between Australia and Pakistan is scheduled to take place at Perth Stadium from December 14 to December 18.
- The second Test match between Australia and Pakistan is set to happen at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) from December 26 to December 30.
- The third Test match between Australia and Pakistan is scheduled to be held at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) from January 3 to January 7.
- Squads
The squad for the Australian cricket team includes
- Pat Cummins (Captain)
- Scott Boland
- Alex Carey
- Cameron Green
- Josh Hazlewood
- Travis Head
- Usman Khawaja
- Marnus Labuschagne
- Nathan Lyon
- Mitch Marsh
- Lance Morris
- Steve Smith
- Mitch Starc
- David Warner
The squad for the Pakistani cricket team includes
- Shan Masood (Captain)
- Aamir Jamal
- Abdullah Shafique
- Abrar Ahmed
- Babar Azam
- Faheem Ashraf
- Hasan Ali
- Imam-ul-Haq
- Khurram Shahzad
- Mir Hamza
- Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper)
- Mohammad Wasim Jnr
- Noman Ali
- Saim Ayub
- Salman Ali Agha
- Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicketkeeper)
- Saud Shakeel
- Shaheen Shah Afridi