PAK vs BAN 2nd Test: Pakistan have announced their twelve-man squad a day before the second test. The board dropped a banger as they dropped Shaheen Afridi from the side and cited it as a strategic move.
As we discussed earlier, batting was not a concern for Pakistan in the first test. Their major concern was bowling as they lost a match from a very dominating position at the stumps of DAY 3. It was their bowling that cost them the first-ever test loss against Bangladesh.
Following that, Pakistan have shown signs of being confident for the second test and announced their twelve-men squad for the PAK vs BAN second test before in the pre-match conference.
They were playing with their best batting combination possible from the squad they have for the series but a spinner to the unit could have been game-changing for them. They have made the correction now and added two spinners to the twelve-men playing squad.
PAK vs BAN 2nd Test: Pakistan Squad
Abdullah Shafique, Saim Ayub, Shan Masood(c), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan(w), Agha Salman, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Ali, Mir Hamza, Kamran Ghulam, Abrar Ahmed, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Mohammad Huraira, Aamer Jamal
The skipper and management have not touched the TOP 7 of the playing 11 from the first test which was expected. Now the BIG news is that SHAHEEN SHAH Afridi has been dropped from the second test.
Shaheen bowled 32 overs in the first test and got two wickets leaking at a rate of just less than 3. This wasn’t a poor performance but the coach Jason Gillespie cited it as a strategic move. The two spinners Abrar Ahmed and Mir Hamza have been added to the 12-membered squad.
PAK vs BAN 2nd Test: Pakistan 12-men Squad
Abdullah Shafique, Saim Ayub, Shan Masood (C), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (WK), Salman Ali Agha, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Ali, Abrar Ahmed, Naseem Shah, Mir Hamza
What Jason Gillespie Said?
“Shaheen will sit out of this game. I had a good conversation with him, and he fully understands and appreciates the reasoning behind this decision. We’re looking for the best combination for this game, and this is our direction.”
“As I mentioned, we will assess the conditions in the morning and decide on the exact makeup of our bowling attack. Shaheen has received some feedback, and he’s had an interesting couple of weeks—he’s a new father, and we’re seeing an opportunity to allow him to spend time with his family as well.”
“He’s working on a few aspects of his bowling to ensure he’s as fit as possible. He’s been collaborating well with Azhar Mahmood, which has been fantastic. We certainly want to see Shaheen at his best because we have a lot of cricket ahead in all formats, and he’s going to play a big role in that.”
“However, right now, we feel that we have all our bases covered for this particular game. But, make no mistake, Shaheen is a quality player and will play a significant role in the next 6-7 months.”
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