Pakistan make massive changes to their squad for first Test against England

Pakistan National Cricket Team have made quite a few changes to their team for the first Test against England National Cricket Team. The Shan Masood-led side have added two reserves to the team and also included one player in the main team.

Pakistan are all set to host England National Cricket Team for the three-match Test series next month. The opening game is scheduled to take place from 7 to 11 October at the Multan Cricket Stadium in Multan. The series will also be part of the ICC World Test Championship.

Two days before, the Pakistan National Cricket Team announced the squad for the first game of the series. They have named an almost similar squad to what they named in the recently concluded Test series against the Bangladesh National Cricket Team at home.

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The notable misses from the Pakistan squad for the Test series against England were Kamran Ghulam and Mohammad Ali. The duo were part of the Test series against Bangladesh but couldn't make the cut into the team for the upcoming three-match series against the Ben Stokes-led side.

PCB made an official statement about why the duo were left out of the squad. They stated that both Kamran Ghulam and Mohammad Ali are very much under consideration but due to the lack of space, they weren't named in the team. They were asked to continue playing in the Champions Cup followed by the President’s Cup.

However, a couple of days later, the hosts included both players in the team but as reserves. As per the reports in Geo News, it is learned that the duo will continue playing in domestic cricket and will be called to Multan in case required for the First Test against England.

"Kamran Ghulam and Mohammad Ali will remain on reserve but will continue playing domestic matches to stay match-ready. All three players are part of the Pakistan Test team setup, but 15 players are sufficient for the home Test series due to cricketing and logistical reasons," the PCB was quoted as saying by Geo Super.

Apart from this, the reports also added that hosts have also added leg-spinner Zahid Mahmood to the team. The spinner will join his teammates in the pre-match camp ahead of the series opener in Multan, which gets underway on 1st October.

Updated Pakistan squad for 1st Test against England

Here's the updated squad for 1st Test against England

Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Huraira, Mohammad Rizwan (wicket-keeper), Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicket-keeper), and Shaheen Shah Afridi, Zahid Mahmood

Reserves: Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Ali

The last time Pakistan faced England in the Test series at home, the hosts were at the receiving end of a 0-3 whitewash. They would be keen to take revenge this time around and give their fans something to cheer about amid tough times for the team.