LAHORE: Newly appointed Test captain of Pakistan cricket team Shan Masood has shown faith in former captain Sarfaraz Ahmed as the first-choice wicketkeeper during the Australian tour.
Shan Masood, who replaced Babar Azam as Test captain, acknowledged Sarfaraz Ahmed’s performance in recent Test matches for Pakistan while talking to the media ahead of the team’s departure for Australia.
“Sarfaraz was player of the series in the last home series against New Zealand. He also performed well in Sri Lanka and secured his spot in the team. He is the settled wicketkeeper in this team,” Shan said.
However, he also shed light on the importance of wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan as a better and did not rule out the possibility of playing him solely as a batter.
“We might require Rizwan as a batsman. His track record is fantastic in Australia. He was one of the top scorers when we last toured Australia for Test matches,” Shan Masood added.
“We might encounter a situation where we might have to drop a spinner and play an extra batter, so Rizwan can come into the fore then,” he concluded.
Pakistan is scheduled to play a three-match Test series against Australia commencing from 14 December 2023 to 7 January 2024.
The team will depart from Lahore on 30 November and will kick off the Test series with the first Test in Perth from 14-18 December 2023.
Pakistan squad for the tour of Australia
Shan Masood (c), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Shah Afridi