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Pakistan Name Three Debutants for Sri Lanka TestsSports
With the Rawalpindi Test starting on Monday, the selectors have turned to domestic form, recalling Aamer Jamal and handing first Test call-ups to three uncapped players.
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Pakistan have added four players to their Test squad for the two-match home series against Sri Lanka, handing maiden call-ups to batter Muhammad Tayyab Arif and fast bowlers Ali Shabbir and Saqib Khan. Pace-bowling all-rounder Aamer Jamal has also been recalled, the Pakistan Cricket Board confirmed on Saturday, 7 November.
The additions take the squad to 16 players, two days before the first Test begins at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Monday, 9 November. The second Test will be played at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium from 17 to 21 November. Both matches are part of the ICC World Test Championship 2025-27, in which Pakistan currently sit at the bottom of the table and Sri Lanka are seventh.
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Tayyab, a 20-year-old right-handed batter from Sialkot, has earned his call-up after an impressive first-class season, scoring 727 runs in seven matches at an average of 66.09, including three centuries. Ali Shabbir, 19, has claimed 22 wickets in eight first-class matches, while Saqib Khan was among the leading wicket-takers in the 2025-26 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, finishing with 47 wickets in nine matches at an average of 20.60. The trio recently featured in the Patron’s XI three-day practice match against Sri Lanka at the Islamabad Club from 4 to 6 November.
Jamal, 30, returns to the Test setup after an impressive run of domestic form. He has represented Pakistan in nine Tests, three ODIs and six T20Is, and recently starred in the President’s Trophy Grade-I final with figures of 7 for 32 and a valuable 55 with the bat. He made his Test return in the West Indies in July after more than a year out of the side.
Two players released
Opener Abdullah Fazal and spinner Ali Usman, who were part of the original 14-man squad, have been released. The updated 16-member squad is: Babar Azam (captain), Aamer Jamal, Ali Shabbir, Arafat Minhas, Azan Awais, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Ghazi Ghori, Mohammad Suleman, Mohammad Taha, Muhammad Tayyab Arif, Razaullah, Saad Baig, Salman Ali Agha, Sameer Minhas, Saqib Khan and Saud Shakeel.
Mohammad Abbas is expected to lead the pace attack, while the squad includes just one player who counts spin bowling as his primary skill, Arafat Minhas. Wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan and opener Imam-ul-Haq were not recalled.
Sri Lanka arrive with a 15-member squad led by Kusal Mendis, who starts his first series as Sri Lanka’s Test captain in Rawalpindi. Dinesh Chandimal, Dhananjaya de Silva and Prabath Jayasuriya are in the group, with Pathum Nissanka also in contention.
With the series offering valuable World Test Championship points, the selectors have used the home series to test fresh talent. For Tayyab, Ali and Saqib, the Rawalpindi Test could be the start of international careers built on strong domestic seasons, while Jamal’s recall rewards a return to form that the selectors could not ignore.
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