Pakistan may find the going tough against Australia in the upcoming test series in the UAE.
Pakistan cricket's selection committee, led by Moin Khan, is planning to include medium pacer Imran Khan in the 15-man squad for the Test series against Australia, starting on October 22 in the UAE.
Imran represents ZTBL and Peshawar in domestic cricket and has taken 257 wickets in 65 first-class matches with an action that is not too dissimilar from that of Umar Gul.
Pakistan has recently been hit by injuries as pacemen Wahab Riaz and Junaid Khan have both been ruled out of the series, while selectors do not want to include Mohammad Irfan or Umar Gul in the Test side, due to doubts over their fitness, The Express Tribune reported.
Their exclusion from the squad has opened up opportunities for several new faces and Imran and Ehsan Adil are likely to be drafted into the squad along with Rahat Ali and Mohammad Talha to make up a relatively inexperienced pace attack.
Similarly, leg-spinner Yasir Shah will be selected and is expected to make his Test debut in this series, while left-armer Zulfiqar Babar would reportedly be the other main spinner in the side.
All-rounder Mohammad Hafeez, who was recently declared fit for the Tests, would be brought in and the team management is banking on him to make up for the void left behind by suspended ace off-spinner Saeed Ajmal.
The final debate amongst the selectors centres on Ahmed Shehzad's opening partner at the top of the innings, with both Shan Masood and Taufeeq Umar hopeful of the final spot.
Pakistan's expected Test squad is: Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Sarfaraz Ahmed, Ahmed Shahzad, Shan Masood/Taufeeq Umar, Muhammad Hafeez, Younus Khan, Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali, Haris Sohail, Zulfiqar Babar, Yasir Shah, Rahat Ali, Mohammad Talha, Imran Khan and Ehsan Adil.
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