Pakistan have replaced almost half of their squad and released Sarfaraz Ahmed and Umar Gul – their head coach and bowling coach, respectively – for the third and final Test against England at Edgbaston following a harrowing 194-run defeat which sealed the Test series 2-0 in the favour of the hosts.
So drastic have been the measures as Pakistan have called up five uncapped players along with Saim Ayub and Abdullah Fazal, who share the experience of only 10 matches between them. Mike Hesson and Ashley Noffke – the head coach and bowling coach of the white-ball set-up – have joined the Test coaching staff.
Mohammad Rizwan, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Agha, Ali Usman, Aamer Jamal, Awais Zafar, and Khurram Shahzad are the seven players who have been released. The five uncapped players who will be joining the squad ahead of the third Test, which begins on September 9, are Arafat Minhas, Mohammad Imran Jnr, Saad Baig, Mohammad Imran Randhawa, and Razaullah.
Pakistan Test squad for Birmingham Test: Babar Azam (capt), Abdullah Fazal, Arafat Minhas, Azan Awais, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Ali, Muhammad Imran, Mohammad Imran Jnr, Muhammad Ghazi Ghori (wk), Razaullah, Saad Baig (wk) Saim Ayub, Sajid Khan, Saud Shakeel, Shan Masood and Ubaid Shah
