Ace spinner Yasir Shah misses Pakistan's tests in Bangladesh

Ace leg spinner Yasir Shah will miss Pakistan's two-game test series in Bangladesh due to a thumb injury, the country's cricket selectors said on Monday. The 35-year-old, who has been a match winner for Pakistan since 2014 and took 235 wickets in 46 Tests, was injured in September. He will be replaced by 36-year-old spinner Bilal Asif, who completed the last of his five tests in 2018. Pakistan will be on November 19-21) and Dhaka (December 4-8).

Opener Imam-Ul-Haq and middle-class batter Kamran Ghulam were appointed to the 20-player squad. The left-handed imam returns after excelling in the ongoing Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, where he has 488 runs in five innings, including an undefeated double century.

Imam held his eleventh and final Test against Australia in Adelaide in 2019. Kamran scored 1,249 runs in the 2020-21 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, which is a national record.

Chief Selector Mohammad Wasim said the squad was selected based on the conditions in Bangladesh.

"Bangladesh are a strong team in their backyard but we have the resources, talent and experience to produce strong performances and then translate that dynamic into the Australia Tests that will be held in Pakistan next year," said Wasim .

The Pakistani cricket team reached Bangladesh last week after being eliminated from the T20 World Cup to play a three-game T20I series. Subsequently, Pakistan will also play a test series with two games.

Read More: PCB announces test team for Bangladesh tour

SQUAD

Babar Azam (captain), Mohammad Rizwan, Abdullah Shafique, Abid Ali, Azhar Ali, Bilal Asif, Faheem Ashraf, Fawad Alam, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Nauman Ali, Sajid Khan, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Zahid Mahmood