Sharjah: Senior all-rounder Shoaib Malek has bulldozed his way into the Pakistan Test squad through a string of impressive scores against Zimbabwe in the just-concluded one-day series. The former captain has been added as the 16th member of the Test squad, despite Pakistan having announced a 15-member party to take on England in a three-Test series in UAE.

Thirty-three-year-old Malek played his last Test match five years ago like Fawad Alam, another member who has also been recalled into the Pakistan Test squad owing to his tall scores in domestic cricket. Pakistan management now wants players to be picked based on form than their past reputation. A press release from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) says team manager and former Pakistan captain Intikhab Alam personally requested chief selector Haroon Rashid to include Malek in the squad after discussion with head coach Waqar Younis. Both Alam and Younis felt that Malek deserved a place in the Test squad considering his form in the Twenty20 and One Day Internationals. Interestingly, Malek’s last Test series was also against England in Birmingham in 2010, in which he got out scoring just three runs in both the innings.

Malek also had to undergo a tough phase when board banned him for a year in March 2010 as part of its action on senior players after a disastrous tour of Australia. Malek had scores of 31, 96 n.o and 34n.o. in the three One-day matches against Zimbabwe and even displayed his off spin skills with a spell of three for 30 in the first One-day match of the series in Harare.

Malek made his comeback to the international side in the home series against Zimbabwe in May, after a gap of two years, and cracked a hundred in Lahore One Day International. In his 11 ODI innings this year, Malek has scored 500 runs with a century and three fifties at an average of 100, while his run tally in T20 internationals stands at 118 from six matches.

Commenting on Malek’s inclusion, Rashid said: “Following Intikhab Alam’s request, I spoke with my fellow selectors and there was unanimity over retaining Malek keeping in mind his current batting form and the off-spin bowling option that could be handy in the all-important forthcoming Test series against England.”

With Alam too playing an elegant knock in the two-day match against England yesterday at the Sharjah the competition to clinch a place in the playing eleven is intense. The first of the three-Test series against England commences in Abu Dhabi from October 13.