Pakistan’s Test head coach Jason Gillespie debunked claims of selecting only one specialist spinner Abrar Ahmed for the upcoming two-match home series against Bangladesh, commencing on August 21.
Gillespie emphasized that the Pakistan squad looks well-balanced and termed Abrar as a promising young talent before going on to assert claiming Salman Ali Agha as a specialist spinner as well.
“You can look into whatever you want. But to start, I think we’ve got two special spinners. Salman Ali Agha is good enough to be classified as a specialist spinner. From what I’ve seen, he has a lot of potential with his off-spin. Abrar (Ahmed), obviously, is a fine young bowler in the early stages of his career,” stated Gillespie.
Pakistan head coach Jason Gillespie then went on to claim that the squad has its all bases covered and also that it is an exciting time for the national team.
“So, I think we’ve covered a lot of bases. We have a lot of seam bowling options and spin bowling options. Our batting is varied as well. I believe we have all bases covered, and it’s a very exciting time for the Pakistan Test side,” Jason Gillespie added.
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According to the sources, the pitch of the Pindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi, is expected to have some grass on it and thus would be favourable for the pacers.
Consequently, Pakistan would likely go with four pacers Mir Hamza, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah and fourth would be either Aamer Jamal or Khurram Shehzad while Abrar Ahmed and Salman Ali Agha would form the spin attack.
“A grassy pitch is being prepared for the Rawalpindi Test,” Abrar confirmed earlier today.
“I took wickets on grassy pitches in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy,” he added.
Pakistan squad for Test series against Bangladesh
Shan Masood (c), Saud Shakeel (vc), Aamir Jamal (subject to Fitness), Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Huraira, Mohammad Rizwan (wicket-keeper), Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicket-keeper) and Shaheen Shah Afridi.
READ: “Management’s call,” Abrar Ahmed on playing in Bangladesh Tests