Five spinners picked for South Africa Tests, Shaheen returns

LAHORE: Pakistan selectors on Tuesday included as many as five spinners while recalling pace bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi in an 18-member squad, containing three uncapped players, for a two-Test home series against South Africa starting later this month.

Top-order batter Shan Masood will continue to lead the squad in the series against the world Test champions beginning at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore on Oct 12.

The players selected for the series attended a training camp that started later on Tuesday while the members of the Test squad who were part of the recently-ended Asia Cup in the UAE will join the camp on Oct 4. The camp will continue till Oct 8.

The uncapped players picked for the series include 38-year-old left-arm orthodox spinner Asif Afridi, left-arm wrist spinner Faisal Akram, 22, and 24-year-old wicket-keeper Rohail Nazir. Off-spinner Sajid Khan, slow left-arm orthodox spinner Noman Ali and mystery spinner Abrar Ahmed are also part of the squad.

Under Shan, who got the Test reins in late 2023, Pakistan have largely struggled losing nine matches while winning only three. The defeats include three whitewashes: 3-0 in Australia in 2023-24, 2-0 thrashing in South Africa followed by a shocking clean-sweep at the hands of Bangladesh in a two-game series last year. The only consolation during this period was a 2-1 home series win by Pakistan against England last year. Pakistan last played a Test at home in Multan against West Indies — which the tourists won to draw a two-Test rubber — in January this year.

The 35-year-old Shan’s own show — as captain — with the bat has been way below par as the southpaw since December 2023 only managed to score 783 runs at a moderate average of 34.04.

Currently, Pakistan are seventh in the ICC Test team rankings while South Africa are second.

Shaheen, 25, last represented Pakistan in a Test in October last year. The left-armer was axed after Pakistan suffered an innings loss to England in the first Test at Multan.

The Pakistan batters in the squad include Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel and Kamran Ghulam.

The fast bowling department also contains Khurram Shahzad, Aamir Jamal and Hasan Ali.

“The national selection committee has named an 18-member squad for the two-Test match series, part of the ICC World Test Championship 2025-27 against South Africa. The squad will be further trimmed before the start of the first Test,” the PCB announced on Tuesday.

The second Test will be held at the Pindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi from Oct 20.

The Test series will be followed by three T20Is and as many ODIs. The squad for the white-ball series will be named in due course.

Squad: Shan Masood (captain), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Asif Afridi, Babar Azam, Faisal Akram, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Rizwan (wicket-keeper), Noman Ali, Rohail Nazir (wicket-keeper), Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Shah Afridi.

Series schedule:

Oct 12-16: First Test, Lahore

Oct 20-24: Second Test, Rawalpindi

Oct 28: First T20, Rawalpindi

Oct 31: Second T20, Lahore

Nov 1: Third T20, Lahore

Nov 4: First ODI, Faisalabad

Nov 6: Second ODI, Faisalabad

Nov 8: Third ODI, Faisalabad

Published in Dawn, October 1st, 2025

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