Cricket: Pakistan announce squad for South Africa series

Dubai: Pakistan have announced their 17-member squad for the first of the two-Test home series against South Africa beginning Tuesday at the Karachi National Stadium.

Abdullah Shafique, Kamran Ghulam and Salman Ali Agha are the players who have been left out from the list of probables who were part of the training camp in the lead-up to the Test series.

Nauman Ali and Sajid Khan will partner Yasir Shah in the spin department, while the fast bowling line-up includes Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi and Tabish Khan, alongside Hasan Ali. Faheem Ashraf and Mohammad Nawaz are the two all-rounders.

After the second Test, which will be played in Rawalpindi from February 4-8, the two teams will compete in three T20s in Lahore on February 11, 13 and 14.

The last time the two teams met in Pakistan was in 2007 when South Africa beat the hosts 1-0 in a two-match Test series. South Africa are the fourth country to tour Pakistan in the last 15 months after Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.

Squad: Abid Ali, Imran Butt, Azhar Ali, Babar Azam (c), Fawad Alam, Saud Shakeel, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Nauman Ali, Sajid Khan, Yasir Shah, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Tabish Khan