Shan Masood opens up on Mohammad Abbas’ exclusion from Test squad

MULTAN: Pakistan Test captain Shan Masood explained the reasons behind the exclusion of veteran pace bowler Mohammad Abbas from the squad for the two-match series against West Indies here on Thursday.

Mohammad Abbas returned to international cricket after a three-year hiatus during the Test series against South Africa in December 2024. He took ten wickets in two games, including a six-wicket in the first Test.

However, he was excluded from the team for the home Test series against West Indies, which is scheduled to commence tomorrow.

Shan Masood, during the pre-match press conference, revealed that the decision to drop Abbas was made considering the conditions in Multan.

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“Your squad is never just 15 players; your roster is usually made up of 20 players. If you look at the squad we announced for the camp before the Australia tour, which was my first assignment, you will see that there have been a few additions since then,” Masood explained.

“Abbas was part of the squad because we felt that the conditions in South Africa would suit him, making him the number one bowler for the Pakistan team,” he added.

“Now, the conditions have changed here and we need to consider the number of players in the squad. We need to see what type of fast bowler we need,” the Pakistan captain concluded.

Notably, Pakistan and West Indies will square off in the first Test from January 17 to January 21 in Multan, while the second match will commence on January 25 at the same venue.

Pakistan squad for the West Indies Tests

Shan Masood (c), Saud Shakeel (vc), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Imam-ul-Haq, Kamran Ghulam, Kashif Ali, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Huraira, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Noman Ali, Rohail Nazir (wk), Sajid Khan, and Salman Ali Agha.

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