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Noman Ali is no longer in the plans of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for the Tests, as the 40-year-old spinner was not invited to join the red-ball camp. Along with Noman, star pacers like Naseem Shah and Shaheen Afridi are not reportedly in the plans for the upcoming Test matches.
The Pakistan cricket team is scheduled to play back-to-back Tests from July against the West Indies and England, respectively. Ahead of the crucial games, PCB is all set to arrange a special camp at their NCA center. A total of 22 players were invited to the red-ball camp.
PCB set to arrange a national camp
Regarding the camp at NCA, PCB released an official statement on June 7. While stars like Babar Azam, Imam ul Haq, Salman Ali Agha, Mohammad Rizwan, and Shan Masood are set to join the camp, Shaheen Afridi, Noman Ali, and Naseem Shah were not included in the list.
22 members who will join the red-ball camp:
Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Fazal, Abrar Ahmed, Ali Usman, Amad Butt, Azan Awais, Babar Azam, Imam ul Haq, Khurram Shehzad, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Rizwan, Muhammad Awais Zafar, Muhammad Ghazi Ghori, Obaid Shah, Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Saqib Khan, Saud Shakeel, Shahnawaz Dahani, Shahzad Gul, and Shan Masood
Proven spinner Noman Ali has been dropped from the side
As per the latest reports in Geo News, PCB is not happy with the work ethic of Shah, and he has been asked to focus on domestic matches. Afridi is also dropped from the Tests.
The exclusion of Noman Ali has come as a surprise, as the veteran spinner was among the regular wicket-takers for the national side in the recent past. Noman Ali played his last Test against Bangladesh in Dhaka in May and took 4 wickets. He was dropped from the Sylhet Test.
Before facing Bangladesh, Ali took 14 wickets against South Africa (1o wickets in Lahore and 4 in Rawalpindi), during the home Test series on October last October. The spinner clinched 16 wickets against West Indies as well, last year in Multan in two Tests. In 2024, when England toured Pakistan, the 40-year-old claimed 11 wickets in Multan and 9 wickets in Rawalpindi, a total of 20 wickets in 2 matches.
Despite taking wickets regularly, the cricket governing body of Pakistan has decided to sideline the spinner from their plans regarding the Test matches. According to the reports published in Pakistan’s new platforms, Noman Ali has been dropped from Pakistan's plans for Test cricket, and a decision has been made to bring young spinners forward in Test cricket in the future. In place of Ali, Abrar Ahmed and Sajid Khan will be the first-choice spinners for the upcoming five Test matches.
Pakistan also drops Shaheen Afridi from Tests
On the other side, Shaheen Afridi played a Test match for the nation on May 8, 2026, against Bangladesh, in Mirpur, where he claimed a total of 5 wickets across the innings. However, the Men in Green faced a brutal reality check as the host team registered a massive win against them.
