Shaheen Shah Afridi Dropped as Pakistan Announce 12-Man Squad For 2nd Test vs Bangladesh. After a surprising 10-wicket defeat to Bangladesh in the first Test at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium last week, Pakistan is set to face Najmul Hossain Shanto’s team again at the same venue in the second Test, starting this Friday, August 30. On the eve of the final match of the series, Pakistan announced their 12-man squad on X and surprisingly, Shaheen Shah Afridi was omitted.
Shaheen Shah Afridi, who has recently become a father, was the main pacer of the Pakistan team in the first Test and took two wickets. However, he has been left out of the squad for the second Test. Is it clear whether Shaheen was dropped or just rested? In his place, pacer Mir Hamza and spinner Abrar Ahmed have been added to the 12-man squad.
It is worth noting that Shaheen, who is the all-time leader of Pakistan’s World Test Championship wicket-takers, was absent in the third Test against Australia in Sydney earlier this year in January. Pakistan’s plan to use four seamers in the first Test against Bangladesh backfired, thus, raising the possibility of Abrar Ahmed’s participation in the second Test.
That is not clear if both Khurram Shehzad and Mohammad Ali will be in the squad orif Mir Hamza will replace one of them. Naseem Shah is likely to lead the bowling unit for Pakistan and be part of the playing XI. After their historic loss to Bangladesh last week, Pakistan will seek to bounce back in the second Test and prevent the embarrassment of losing the series.
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Pakistan 12-man Squad For The Second Test
Shan Masood (C), Babar Azam, Abdullah Shafique, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Ali, Saim Ayub, Saud Shakeel (VC), Mohammad Rizwan (WK), Agha Salman, Naseem Shah, Abrar Ahmed, Mir Hamza.
