ISLAMABAD: Pakistan captain Shan Masood will depend on three spinners to run circles around England on Tuesday as he takes on Ben Stokes’ side without the likes of stellar batsman and former captain Babar Azam, and pacers Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi. 

In a shocking development announced earlier this week, Pakistan dropped Azam, Shah and Afridi after a string of lackluster performances by the trio. Azam has not scored a fifty in his last 18 Test innings and managed just 30 and five in the first Test which England won on Friday after piling up 823-7 declared. Pakistan’s defeat was the latest in a string of humiliating Test losses at home, with the South Asian country becoming the first nation to suffer an innings defeat after scoring more than 500 runs in its first innings. 

“We are confident that this break from international cricket will help these players regain their fitness, confidence and composure, ensuring they return in top shape for future challenges,” Aqib Javed, the newly inducted member of the selection committee, said in a statement earlier this week. 

“They remain some of our finest talents with much more to contribute to Pakistan cricket. We are fully committed to supporting them during this period so they can come back even stronger.”

Pakistan announced their playing XI on Monday, with Aamer Jamal their only fast bowling option in the squad. The selection committee has named spinners Sajid Khan, Noman Ali and Zahid Mehmood in the playing XI, marking a huge shift in Pakistan’s tactics that have mostly relied on fast bowlers. Haseebullah Khan, Mehran Mumtaz, Khan and batter Kamran Ghulam were the other names included in the 16-man squad for the second and third Test matches. 

Masood will be under added pressure as Pakistan remain winless in the last 11 Test matches at home. Since captaining the Test side for the first time ever in January this year, Pakistan have lost six Test matches on the trot. The South Asian country suffered a 2-0 humiliating Test series whitewash against Bangladesh at home last month. 

Squad:

Pakistan: Abdullah Shafique, Saim Ayub, Shan Masood (captain), Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan, Salman Ali Agha, Aamer Jamal, Noman Ali, Sajid Khan, Zahid Mehmood.

England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (captain), Jamie Smith (wk), Brydon Carse, Matthew Potts, Jack Leach, Shoaib Bashir.