Pakistan select Rizwan, Hasan Ali in 12-man squad for Melbourne Test

Pakistan's captain Shan Masood speaks during a press conference at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in Melbourne on December 25, 2023, on the eve of the second cricket Test match between Australia and Pakistan. (AFP)

• Pakistani bowlers Khurram Shahzad, Abrar Ahmed and Noman Ali have been ruled out of Melbourne Test due to injuries
• Pakistan axe ex-captain Sarfaraz Ahmed, all-rounder Faheem Ashraf to bring in Mohammad Rizwan and Hasan Ali

ISLAMABAD: Rattled by injuries to their bowlers, Pakistan on Monday named wicketkeeper batter Mohammad Rizwan, pacers Hasan Ali and Mir Hamza in their 12-man squad for the Boxing Day Test match against Australia in Melbourne. The green shirts, who lost the opening Test at Perth to Australia by 360 runs after getting bowled out for a hapless 89 in the second innings, have been rocked by injuries since then. Pacer Khurram Shahzad and their two leading spinners, Abrar Ahmed and Noman Ali, have all been ruled out of the Melbourne match on account of injuries. Former captain Sarfaraz Ahmed and all-rounder Faheem Ashraf have been axed from the squad, with skipper Shan Masood saying in the Christmas Day captains’ press conference that both Rizwan and Ahmed were important to the team. “I wouldn’t think that that one change would have changed the whole course of the game,” Masood said. “The reason to play Sarfaraz was pretty much the same [as the reason to play Aamer Jamal and Khurram Shahzad]. People go back to stats and Rizwan averages very well in SENA.” Masood said the team thought Rizwan “is ready and we can give Saifi [Sarfaraz Ahmed] a “little bit of break to recuperate and come back.” Ahmed had performed poorly in the Perth Test match, scoring only 7 runs across the two innings as Pakistani batters folded against a strong Australian bowling attack bolstered by the likes of skipper Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and spinner Nathan Lyon. Pakistan also decided to head into the Melbourne Test match with the opening pair of Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq, meaning exciting left-handed batter Saim Ayub will stay on the bench for the second match of the series. Australia XI: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins (capt), Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood Pakistan XII: Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood (capt), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan, Agha Salman, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Hasan Ali, Mir Hamza, Aamer Jamal, Sajid Khan