Cleanup in Pak Team, 8 players dropped: PAK vs SA

Pakistan Cricket Team looked out of sorts on New Zealand tour. They Lost the Test series against New Zealand by 2-0. New Zealand’s tough conditions have always been a headache for Asian teams, But now Pakistan will be playing Team South Africa on its own soil. South Africa is touring Pakistan for 2 Tests and Three T20I matches starting from Jan-26th.

Also Read: South Africa to tour Pakistan for 2 Test and 3 T20Is.

Pakistan cricket has suffered a lot due to the 2009 attacks on Sri Lankan team after which no international team was willing to play in Pakistan citing security concerns. This not only forced Pakistan cricket team to play their home series on neutral venues but also took away the home conditions and home crowd advantage from the team for a good 11 years.

This PAK vs SA series will be the first after 13 years since South Africa toured Pakistan back in Oct-2007.

Pakistan’s dismal performance against the New Zealand dragged them down to the 7th spot on ICC Test Rankings of teams. Team management and PCB was heavily criticized for their selection choices and poor performances.

Head Coach Misbah and Waqar Younis under fire.

Head Coach Misbah Ul Haq and bowling coach Waqar Younis came under a lot of fire and were asked to defend their performance in front of a PCB’s committee. There were also roomers that Misbah and Waqar might be removed from their positions before South African tour. However, sources say that result of the series against South Africa will further decide the fate of the two coaches.

Misbah will have no say in selection.

Misbah ul Haq was stripped off his power to select the playing XI and it was cleared by PCB that all section decisions will be made by the Captain Babar Azam and Misbah ul Haq will have no say in the process.

The New Chief Selector of Pakistan Cricket.

Muhammad Wasim who was previously coach of the successful Northern Team, has been appointed as the chief selector of the Pakistan cricket Team. Misbah Ul Haq was previously appointed as chief selector and head coach of the team as well. After heavy criticism and Misbah’s failure in both roles, Misbah ul Haq had to leave the Chief selector job. He retained the Head coach position. Misbah however, selected the team for New Zealand tour.

Muhammad Wasim, the new Chief selector has come up with a brand new team and selected a totally different bunch of players. He has dropped several seasoned players from the Test squad and also gave a detailed presentation containing reasons of exclusion of each and every player.

Muhammad Wasim has selected several new young players who performed exceptionally well in the Quaid-e-Azam trophy and in domestic circuit.

Players Not selected for South Africa series.

Several regulars are dropped upon poor recent performances by the new Chief selector. Below is the list of players from from the Test Squad.

1. Shan Masood (Dropped)
2. Imam Ul Haq(Dropped)
3. Haris Sohail(Dropped)
4. Shadab Khan(Dropped)
5. Mohammad Abbas(Dropped)
6. Naseem Shah(Dropped)
7. Sohail Khan(Dropped)
8. Zafar Gohar(Dropped)

All these players were part of the New Zealand tour however, the Chief selector was not impressed by the past performances of these players either.

New Players Selected in Pakistan Test Squad

Here is a list of players selected by the new Chief Selector in his first selection for the test series against South Africa.

• Abdullah Shafique.
• Agha Salman.
• Saud Shakeel.
• Kamran Ghulam.
• Mohammad Nawaz.
• Nauman Ali.
• Sajid Khan.
• Haris Rauf.
• Tabish Khan.

The new selections for the brief test series is mostly welcomed by the cricket fans and critics alike. Lets us see how the new talent responds to the opportunity given to them to play at the highest level.

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