Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) selectors as part of their strategy to keep all the leading performers involved in the system, invited six additional players to participate in the training camp involving the Test players ahead of the Zimbabwe series.
The six players invited are Irfan Ullah Shah (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Naseem Shah (Central Punjab), Rohail Nazir (Northern), Sameen Gul (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), and Taj Wali (Balochistan), Waqas Maqsood (Central Punjab), informed PCB in a media statement.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Selectors Had Invited 7 Additional Players For Training Camp Before Pakistan’s Departure To South Africa
In the training camp held prior to the side’s departure for Johannesburg, the selectors had invited seven additional players so that the coaches would work on their development.
PCB invited seven additional players including fast bowlers Naseem Shah and Shahnawaz Dahani to join the South Africa-bound pre-departure camp for the men’s national team. The camp, which commenced at Gaddafi Stadium Lahore on March 19, was being set for white-ball cricketers for the upcoming three-match ODI and four-match T20I series against South Africa in April.
Amad Butt, Faisal Akram, Khushdil Shah, Muhammad Imran, and Zahid Mahmood are the other five players invited to the camp so that the coaching staff continues to work on their development. Separately, a high-performance training camp for 25 players not involved in the Pakistan Super League was held at the National High-Performance Centre, but it had to be closed due to a rise in the number of Covid-19 cases.
Pakistan To Play 3 T20Is Starting April 21 And 2 Tests Starting April 29 Against Zimbabwe
The Test players’ camp will run under a bio-secure environment from April 11-20 before the 11 players will depart for Harare on April 21 to join other members of the side. The two Tests against Zimbabwe will be played in Harare from April 29 to May 3 and May 7-11. Pakistan will play Zimbabwe in 3 T20Is and 2 Tests.
Harare-bound Test players to attend camp are Abid Ali (Central Punjab), Azhar Ali (Central Punjab), Faheem Ashraf (Central Punjab), Fawad Alam (Sindh), Imran Butt (Balochistan), Nauman Ali (Northern), Sajid Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Salman Ali Agha (Southern Punjab), Saud Shakeel (Sindh, subject to fitness), Shahnawaz Dahani (Sindh), Tabish Khan (Sindh) and Zahid Mahmood (Southern Punjab).
Two changes have been made in the 20-player Test side that defeated South Africa by seven wickets and 95 runs in Karachi and Rawalpindi, respectively. Kamran Ghulam and Yasir Shah have been replaced by Shahnawaz Dahani and Zahid Mahmood.
While white-ball vice-captain Shadab Khan and Mohammed Hafeez returned to the side after missing the South Africa series, Sharjeel Khan has made a comeback to the T20I squad, four years after his 15th and last T20I match. The tour of Zimbabwe is scheduled to follow on from Pakistan’s tour of South Africa. On 28 March 2021, the PCB confirmed the tour itinerary, with all the matches being played behind closed doors in Harare.