Shan Masood is likely to hold on to the captaincy for Pakistan in the forthcoming home Test series against England. Babar Azam will also lead the side in white-ball formats during the tours of Australia and South Africa later this year.
The England squad is due in Pakistan on October 3 as part of a three Test match series starting with the first Test at Multan on October 7. The Pakistan Cricket Board selectors would announce the Test squad succeeding the champions Cup Final on Sunday.
Shan Masood, having suffered five successive losses in the Tests, is expected to sit with head coach Jason Gillespie and national selectors Muhammad Yousuf and Asad Shafiq in Faisalabad this week to plan the England series.
The last time England tour of Pakistan was held in the 2022/23 season, England lost all three matches. It was’s the only test match Babar Azam captain – win innings.
One of the sources said that few changes are expected in the Test squad now in Rawalpindi beat the series against Bangladesh with 0-2.
‘According to a source, while white-ball head coach, Gary Kirsten has picked out some young players from the Champs Cup for the T20 and ODI teams, Gillespie and high- Performance coach, Tim Nielsen, are yet to settle on any new potential players ahead of the Test series against England,’ PTI quoted the source as saying.
The source further noted that the batting order will likely be more or less girdled with the availability of Shan, Babar, Saud Shakeel, Abdullah Shafique, Salman Ali Agha, Muhammad Rizwan, Kamran Ghulam and Muhammad Huraira for selection.
“Some new spinners are in the thinking for the 3 match series but first there are some issues to be sorted out as to what type of pitches would be made at Multan and Rawalpindi (venues for the 3 tests),” the source added.
Since 2022, Pakistan has lost home series against Australia, England as well as Bangladesh and has only won two out of six ODI series conducted in Pakistan against Sri Lanka, New Zealand and Bangladesh, drawing the one against New Zealand.
