Pakistan retains Masood as captain for opening test match against England

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan has retained Shan Masood as its captain for the opener of the three-test home series against England and recalled left-arm spinner Noman Ali.

Bowling all-rounder Aamer Jamal has recovered from a back injury and was named in a 15-member squad announced by the Pakistan Cricket Board on Tuesday. Noman will be the second specialist spin option for Pakistan along with Abrar Ahmed in a squad named for the first test.

Masood’s place as captain was under the scanner after Bangladesh routed Pakistan 2-0 for Masood’s fifth straight test defeat since he was elevated to test skipper last year.

Pakistan was forced to leave out fast bowler Khurram Shahzad, who couldn’t recover from a left side strain sustained during the second test against Bangladesh.

The selectors left out fast bowler Mohammad Ali and middle-order batter Kamran Ghulam, who were both part of Pakistan’s squad during the Bangladesh series.

Multan will host back-to-back test matches in between Oct. 7-19 while the third and final test will be played at Rawalpindi from Oct. 24. Pakistan squad will have a pre-series training camp at Multan, starting on Oct. 1.

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Squad: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel, Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Huraira, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shaheen Shah Afridi.

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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket