Pakistan Names 12-Man Squad For Boxing Day Test vs. Australia No Place For Sarfaraz Ahmed
On Monday, Pakistan announced their 12-man squad for the upcoming Boxing Day clash against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, with Mohammad Rizwan replacing experienced wicketkeeper Sarfaraz Ahmed. Sarfaraz has been side-lined from the Test squad after the nightmare he went through in the Peth Test. He scored just seven runs in both innings, with Mitchell Starc causing him all sorts of trouble.
The inclusion of Rizwan in the second Test squad is one of the three changes that Pakistan has made for the highly anticipated clash.
Fast bowler Khurram Shahzad was ruled out of the series because of an injury, while all-rounder Faheem Ashraf will also miss out after the poor test with bat and ball in Perth.
However, out of these changes, the most prominent one remains Sarfraz being side-lined for the second test.
His selection received a lot of criticism due to his struggles in Australian conditions. In 10 innings, Sarfaraz has scored 239 runs at an average of 29.87. Pakistan skipper Shan Masood stated that Sarfraz was backed because of his performance in domestic cricket and the commitment and intensity he brought to the game.