MULTAN: Fast bowler Hasan Ali is likely to make a surprise return to the national Test squad for the remainder of the home Test series against England as a replacement for injured Haris Rauf, who was ruled out after sustaining an injury in the first Test. 

According to the sources, deliberations are underway to call upon the pacer Hasan for the Multan and Karachi Test after he was initially dropped from the 18-member squad announced for the series.

The team did not have too many fast-bowling options in their reserves as uncapped Muhammad Wasim Jnr will become an automatic choice to play the Multan Test unless a replacement is called if Pakistan opt to go with three genuine pacers as in the previous Test.

On Tuesday, Pakistan Cricket Board confirmed that right-arm speedster Haris had been unable to recover from the injury he sustained on the opening day of the Rawalpindi Test and would fly to Lahore to start his rehabilitation at the National High Performace centre.

Although his form has witnessed a dip in recent years that forced his exclusion from both red-ball and white-ball squads, Hasan has valuable experience playing for Pakistan in 21 Tests in which he took 77 wickets at a brilliant average of 24.57. He was also named Pakistan’s Test Cricketer of the year for 2021.

It is worth mentioning here that the home side is currently trailing the historic three-match series 0-1 after England sealed a sensational win in the opening Test.

READ: Cummins out of 2nd West Indies Test, Smith to captain Australia