Shan Masood dropped as Pakistan turn to youth for Sri Lanka Tests
Three maiden call-ups — Mohammad Taha, Mohammad Suleman and Sameer Minhas — head a youth-first selection for the Rawalpindi and Lahore Tests starting November 9.
Pakistan have dropped former Test captain Shan Masood as the national selectors turned to youth and domestic performers for the two-match ICC World Test Championship series against Sri Lanka next month, with Babar Azam retaining the captaincy of a revamped 14-member squad announced by the cricket board on Saturday.
The most striking omission is Masood, who led Pakistan in the longest format until recently, alongside Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique and wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan. Fast bowlers Aamir Jamal, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Ali and Sajid Khan have also been left out of the initial squad, signalling a clear break from the side that struggled through the recent England series.
Three batters have earned maiden Test call-ups on the back of heavy run-scoring in the President's Trophy Grade-I competition: Mohammad Taha, who made 730 runs in seven matches with three centuries and a highest score of 225, Mohammad Suleman, who aggregated 652 runs including three hundreds, and Sameer Minhas, who struck 405 runs in his maiden first-class season. Off-spinner Ali Usman and all-rounder Salman Ali Agha have also been included as the selectors reward domestic form over reputation.
The series begins at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on November 9, with the first Test running until November 13. The second Test will be played at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore from November 17 to 21. Before that, a three-day warm-up match will be staged at the Islamabad Club from November 4 to 6, with wicketkeeper Saad Baig leading the Patron's XI against the tourists.
Masood's axing follows a lean run against England, where he managed only 161 runs in six innings with a best of 95, although the left-hander had scored a century against the West Indies in July before a finger injury cut short his series. Across 50 Tests he accumulated 2,926 runs at an average of 30.80, with seven centuries and fifteen fifties, and his leadership had steered Pakistan through one of the more turbulent periods of their recent red-ball history.
The selection shake-up reflects a renewed emphasis on domestic performances as Pakistan attempt to arrest a long slide in Test cricket. With the World Test Championship cycle underway and a home series against Sri Lanka offering a winnable start, the board has effectively signalled that the door to the Test side now runs through the President's Trophy rather than past reputations.
