Former captain Sarfaraz Ahmed has reacted to the appointment of middle-order batter Saud Shakeel as the vice-captain of Pakistan’s Test team.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) men’s national selection committee announced a 17-member squad for the upcoming two-match home Test series against Bangladesh, starting on 21 August.
Shan Masood was retained as Test captain, while Saud Shakeel was named the new vice-captain of Pakistan’s red-ball team.
Saud replaced pace bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi, who served as the vice-captain in the last Test series against Australia.
Sarfaraz Ahmed, who is part of the Test squad, welcomed the decision to appoint Saud as the vice-captain, expressing support for the left-handed batter.
“Congratulations to Saud Shakeel. It is a great honour to be the vice-captain of Pakistan’s national team,” Sarfaraz said while speaking to a local news channel.
“Such junior players who have been captaining at the lower levels are being groomed, which is uplifting. All the players are talented, all the youngsters are performing well. Whoever gets the opportunity should play well,” he concluded.
The Bangladesh cricket team is scheduled to arrive in Islamabad in the wee hours of 17 August and is expected to train in the same afternoon.
Meanwhile, the home team’s training camp will commence at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on 11 August and will be supervised by red-ball head coach Jason Gillespie and assistant coach Azhar Mahmood.
The first Test will be played at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium from 21-25 August, while the second Test will be held from 30 August-3 September in Karachi.
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
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