KARACHI: Pakistan Sunday suffered a significant setback when pace bowler Hasan Ali and all-rounder Faheem Ashraf were ruled out of the first Test against Australia through injuries.
Hasan has a muscle strain and Ashraf an injured hamstring and will miss the Test starting in Rawalpindi from Friday.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said spinning allrounder Iftikhar Ahmed and fast bowler Mohammad Wasim Junior will replace the injured duo.
“Both Iftikhar and Wasim (chosen due to their all-round ability) will reach Islamabad tonight and start their three-day isolation at the team hotel,” said a PCB release.
The pair will join the rest of the squad after clearing covid tests.
Hasan, 27, has been anchoring Pakistan’s bowling attack along with Shaheen Shah Afridi in the last 12 months.
He took a ten-wicket haul in the last Test in Rawalpindi, against South Africa in February, before taking nine wickets in Harare against Zimbabwe two months later.
He finished the year with 41 wickets in eight Tests, just behind India’s Ravi Ashwin (54) and Shaheen (47).
Ashraf has been a star with both bat and ball, allowing Pakistan to use two spinners in matches.
PCB hoped Hasan and Ashraf would regain fitness ahead of the second Test in Karachi starting from March 12.
The third and final Test is in Lahore from March 21.
Australia will also play three one-day internationals and a T20I on the tour.
Pakistan’s revised squad for first Test:
Babar Azam (captain), Mohammad Rizwan, Abdullah Shafique, Azhar Ali, Fawad Alam, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Wasim Junior, Nauman Ali, Sajid Khan, Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood, Zahid Mahmood.
Pakistan lose Hasan, Ashraf ahead of first Australia Test
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Pakistan lose Hasan, Ashraf ahead of first Australia Test
- Iftikhar Ahmed, pacer Mohammad Wasim Junior will replace them
- The first of the three Test matches will begin in Rawalpindi on Friday
Bottom club Wolves shock high-flying Aston Villa at Molineux
- Both sides struggled in a dour first half but Wolves seized the initiative 16 minutes into the second period when Gomes gave it a surprise lead
WOLVERHAMPTON, England: João Gomes scored his first Premier League goal of the season and Rodrigo Gomes added a second in stoppage time to give bottom club Wolverhampton a shock 2-0 win over high-flying Aston Villa on Friday.
It was only the second win in the league for a club that remains six points adrift at the bottom of the table and is almost certain to be relegated.
The result was a bitter blow to Villa’s Champions League aspirations and a slap in the face for coach Unai Emery, who was bidding to record his 100th victory in charge of the Birmingham club.
Both sides struggled in a dour first half but Wolves seized the initiative 16 minutes into the second period when Gomes gave it a surprise lead.
Adam Armstrong deftly cushioned a long pass right into the path of the onrushing Gomes and his superbly struck shot gave Emiliano Martínez no chance.
Villa pushed forward as the game went on and it was caught out in stoppage time when Wolves doubled its lead on the break, Rodrigo Gomes doing the damage.
Villa has won only one of its last five league games. The result leaves it 10 points behind leader Arsenal and five behind second-placed Manchester City, having played a game more than both.
Its next two matches are against the clubs immediately below it in the table, Chelsea and Manchester United.
