Pakistan announce Test squad for Australia series, Shaun Tait roped in as bowling coach

Pakistan on Wednesday announced a 16-man squad for the upcoming 3-Test series against Australia at home from March 4. Australia will be touring Pakistan for the first time in 24 years for 3 Tests, as many ODIs and a T20I in March April.

Babar Azam has been named as the captain of the 16-man squad. Meanwhile, Saqlain Mushtaq will continue to be their head coach while they have also roped in the services of former Australia pacer Shaun Tait as the bowling coach one a one-year contract.

Legendary batter Mohammad Yousuf joins the squad as their batting coach for the Australia series.

“Pakistan Cricket Board has confirmed Saqlain Mushtaq will continue as head coach for another 12 months, while it also announced the appointments of Shaun Tait as fast bowling coach for 12 months and Mohammad Yousuf as batting coach for the Australia series,” the PCB said in a statement.

From the series against Bangladesh, three changes have been made in the national squad.

Haris Rauf, who was in the side for the South Africa and Zimbabwe Tests in 2021, has returned to replace off-spinner Bilal Asif, while Shan Masood, who last played in New Zealand in the 2020-21 season, has taken over from Abid Ali, who is completing his rehabilitation after being diagnosed with Acute Coronary Syndrome. Yasir Shah has been added to the reserve pool.

Test players who are not involved in Pakistan Super League 2022 will assemble in Karachi on Wednesday, 16 February, for a training camp that will be held at the National Stadium.

Pakistan squad for Test series vs Australia

Babar Azam (captain), Mohammad Rizwan, Abdullah Shafique, Azhar Alu, Faheem Ashraf, Fawad Alam, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Nawaz, Nauman Ali, Sajid Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood, Zahid Mahmood.

Reserves: Yasir Shah, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Naseem Shah, Mohammad Abbas, Kamran Ghulam.

Player Support Personnel: Mansoor Rana (manager), Saqlain Mushtaq (head coach), Shahid Aslam (assistant to head coach), Mohammad Yousuf (batting coach), Shaun Tait (bowling coach), Cliffe Deacon (physiotherapist), Drikus Saaiman (trainer/strength and conditioning coach), Abdul Majeed (fielding coach), Emmad Ahmed Hameed (media and digital manager), Col (retd) Usman Anwari (security manager), Talha Ejaz (analyst) and Malang Ali (masseur).

Earlier this week, Australia announced a full-strength squad for the Test series that will be led by Pat Cummins.

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Ashton Agar, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Michael Neser, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, David Warner.