Pakistan bowlers Aamer Jamal and Abrar Ahmed to miss first Test against Bangladesh

Pakistan will be without seamer Aamer Jamal and spinner Abrar Ahmed for the first Test against Bangladesh starting August 21 in Rawalpindi. A day after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) confirmed that the venue for the second Test shifted from Karachi to Rawalpindi, the news of management releasing Jamal due to fitness concerns broke out.

Jamal suffered a back injury while playing in the English County earlier this year and was picked only for this home Test series subject to fitness clearance. Though the team management expected him to regain fitness by now, Jamal failed to do so, returning to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Lahore to continue his rehabilitation.

Earlier, the team management released spinner Abrar Ahmed and top-order batter Kamran Ghulam over the weekend.

Considering these last-minute calls, Pakistan’s squad for the first Test is churned down to 14 players.

Meanwhile, per the latest reports, the hosts are set to enter the first game of an extended home season with an all-pace attack, including star seamers Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Khurram Shehzad and Mir Hamza. 

All three - Shehzad, Hamza and Jamal made a name for themselves during the tour Down Under last year. Though Pakistan failed to change the outcome, going down in the three-match series, the seamers delivered handy performances throughout. Jamal, however, will have to wait for his Test recall.

The Shan Masood-led side sits in the sixth spot on the points table of the World Test Championship and will aim to climb the ladder and return to contention for the top-two finish. The 2025 WTC Final will be played at Lord’s.

Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Huraira, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk) and Shaheen Afridi