The uncapped Kamran Ghulam has been called up to replace Azhar Ali, who retired after the final test in Pakistan.
Pakistan recalled fast bowler Hasan Ali and selected Kamran Glam for their next two-game home test series against New Zealand. Shaheenshah his Afridi continues to be sidelined while recovering from a knee injury sustained in the 2022 T20 World Championship final.
Naseem Shah, who missed his final two Tests against England with a shoulder injury, is also back in the squad after being declared healthy. However, Harris Rauch, who was injured on his debut in the first Test against England and did not play in the next two matches, is still recovering and was ruled out.
The 27-year-old Ghulam was also selected for the Bangladesh Test Series a year ago, but did not qualify for the match that time. He has 44 top-flight games and a 47.36 average after completing 10th and 18th half-centuries on 3268 carries. He will replace Azhar Ali in the team following the senior hitter’s retirement. Gulam scored Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s record 1249 runs in the 2020-21 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and was part of the winning side of the same tournament last season. In the one-day format Pakistan Cup he won 92, 0, 123, 98. In the QeA Trophy before that he averaged 42.64 for 597 runs from 14 innings.
Hasan rejoined the squad after being sidelined in his 3–0 defeat of the away side against England. His last friendly was against Sri Lanka in Goal in July.
In a statement, the PCB said bowler Mohammad Ali and bowling all-rounder Fahim Ashraf, who had been on the England test team, have been ruled out of the upcoming series and advised to join the ongoing Pakistan Cup.
The series begins in Karachi on his 26th December and travels to Multan for the second match from 3rd January. This will be followed by three day and night ODIs in Karachi from January 10th to 14th.
Pakistan representative:
Babar Azam (Captain), Abdullah Shafiq, Abrar Ahmed, Agha Salman, Hasan Ali, Imam Ul Haq, Kamran Gulam, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim, Naseem Shah, Nauman Ali, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Saud Shakir, Shan Massoud and Zahid Mahmoud