RAWALPINDI: Naseem Shah, who was originally a travelling reserve, has been included in the Pakistan squad for the first Test against Australia after Haris Rauf was ruled out after contracting Covid-19.
According to a statement issued by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Haris will remain in isolation for five days and will reintegrate with the squad after a negative test at the end of his isolation period.
Following Rauf’s positive test on Tuesday, rest of the squad members and support personnel were retested. All these tests have come out negative.
Squad for first Test: Babar Azam (captain) (Central Punjab), Mohammad Rizwan (vice-captain) (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Abdullah Shafique (Central Punjab), Azhar Ali (Central Punjab), Fawad Alam (Sindh), Iftikhar Ahmed (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Imam-ul-Haq (Balochistan), Mohammad Wasim Jnr (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Naseem Shah (Central Punjab), Nauman Ali (Northern), Sajid Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Saud Shakeel (Sindh), Shaheen Shah Afridi (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Shan Masood (Balochistan) and Zahid Mahmood (Sindh)
Test schedule:
4-8 Mar – 1st Test, Rawalpindi
12-16 Mar – 2nd Test, Karachi
21-25 Mar – 3rd Test, Lahore
