Shaheen Shah Afridi will miss Pakistan’s three-Test series at home in England in December due to appendicitis and a reconstruction of his right knee.
Left-arm pacer Shaheen was not named in Pakistan’s 18-man squad for the tournament, including off-spinner Abrar Ahmed and fast bowler Mohammad Ali.
The 22-year-old tweaked his knee to catch during the five-wicket loss to England in the T20 World Cup final at the MCG earlier this month, having undergone an appendectomy on Sunday.
Pakistan said Shaheen will need to rest for three to four weeks after the operation and then resume rehabilitation on his right knee in two weeks.
Pakistan’s series against England starts in Rawalpindi on Thursday December 1, before another match in Multan from December 9 and then Karachi from December 17, all matches are ongoing. Sky Sports.
The opening Test, England’s first in Pakistan since 2005, will go ahead in Rawalpindi as planned after political unrest raised hopes of the match being moved to Karachi.
Leg-spinner Abrar is the leading wicket-taker in the 2022-23 Quaid-E-Azam Trophy with 43 wickets in seven matches at an average of 21.95, including five wickets. Fast bowler Ali has taken 24 wickets in six matches.
Mohammad Wasim and Zahid Mehmood could also feature in the Tests – they were in the squad for the three-match Test against Australia earlier this year but did not feature.
Fawad Alam, seamer Hasan Ali and leg-spinner Yasir Shah have been dropped.
Fawad scored 24 and one in his solo debut in the two-Test series in Sri Lanka in July, while Hasan took three wickets at an average of 48.33 in the same series.
Yasir took nine wickets for Sri Lanka but has taken just 14 wickets in seven Quaid-e-Azam Trophy matches this season.
Pakistan Test squad for England series: Babar Azam (captain), Mohammad Rizwan, Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Azhar Ali, Abrar Ahmed, Mohammad Ali, Shan Masood, Faheem Ashraf, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Nawaz, Nauman Ali, Saud Shakeel, Zahid Mahmood, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Naseem Shah, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed.
Watch England’s three Test matches against Pakistan live on Sky Sports Cricket. The telecast of the opening match starts at 4.30am on Thursday, December 1 ahead of the 5am start from Rawalpindi.
