Karachi: Left-arm fast bowler Akif Javed has tested positive in pre-departure testing and, as such, he will miss Pakistan Shaheens’ tour of Sri Lanka. The 18-player squad will depart for Colombo on Thursday, 21 October.

Akif was selected for the three 50-over matches in Colombo, which will be played at the back of two four-day matches scheduled to begin in Kandy from 28 October. Due to paucity of time, no replacement has been named and the team management will have the option of selecting Akif’s replacement from the available bowlers.

Pakistan Shaheens attended a four-day training camp from 17-20 October in Karachi at the Hanif Mohammad High-Performance Centre in Karachi under the supervision of head coach Ijaz Ahmed.

The squad will be led by Saud Shakeel, while Kamran Ghulam is the vice-captain.

Squad: Saud Shakeel (c), Mohammad Taha, Abdullah Shafiq, Abrar Ahmed, Abbas Afridi, Ahmed Safi Abdullah, Arshad Iqbal, Irfanullah Shah, Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shehzad, Muhammad Haris, Naseem Shah, Omair bin Yusuf, Qasim Akram, Salman Ali Agha, Salman Khan, Usman Salahuddin and Zahid Mahmood

Tour schedule:

21 Oct – departure for Kandy
28-31 Oct – 1st four-day match, Kandy
4-7 Nov – 2nd four-day match, Kandy
10 Nov – 1st 50-over match, Colombo
12 Nov – 2nd 50-over match, Colombo
14 Nov – 3rd 50-over match, Colombo

Read: Shaheens’ coach Ijaz confident of winning in Sri Lanka