Pakistan retains Shan Masood as captain, returns left-arm spinner Noman Ali for England test series

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan have retained Shan Masood as its captain for next month’s 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.

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.

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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