Fawad, Sohail, Wahab among 20 short-listed for England series

E-Paper | June 23, 2026

DERBY: Following the conclusion of two four-day intra-squad matches, Pakistan has shortlisted the squad for the three-match Test series against England, which begins on Aug 5.

Meanwhile, the remaining nine players — Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Hasnain and Musa Khan — will continue to train with the squad for the T20I series, which will be played at the backend of the Test series.

The following is the short-listed squad:

Azhar Ali (captain), Babar Azam (vice-captain), Abid Ali, Asad Shafiq, Faheem Ashraf, Fawad Alam, Imam ul Haq, Imran Khan Snr, Kashif Bhatti, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood, Sohail Khan, Usman Shinwari, Wahab Riaz. Yasir Shah.

Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2020

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Pakistan-England series

JackJones

Jul 28, 2020 11:35am

I am glad Fawad Alam is in the shortlisted 20. He deserves a chance. I have heard in the social media selectors need to make a choice between Fawad Alam and Shadab Khan which does not make any sense. Fawad Alam strengthens the batting period and that is what Pakistan needs.

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JackJones

Jul 28, 2020 11:37am

Who is the vice captain of the T-20 team? PCB needs to announce one immediately.

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Sab Se Pehle Pakistan

Jul 28, 2020 11:39am

PCB (Punjab Cricket Board) will never select Fawad Alam in the playing eleven. Feel sorry for Fawad Alam and others who suffer only because of "ism" in the system.

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JackJones

Jul 28, 2020 12:10pm

Imam ul Haq should not be in the test team, he is an ODI player at best. Just heard his interview on Cricketbazzi and was very disappointed because he likes to play the victim defense and really should be more mature in his responses particularly those relating to Pakistan. If you cannot face media than you should figure out ways to avoid them instead of being in the limelight. Scoring centuries is of no use if your team loses.

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Johnny sins

Jul 28, 2020 01:19pm

I hope they will win atleast 1 match

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Alih

Jul 28, 2020 02:07pm

@Sab Se Pehle Pakistan, I don't believe you belong here.

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Mnkhan

Jul 28, 2020 02:53pm

Fawad will come back home without playing a single match. They will play 3 openers or one all-rounder to keep fawad out. Rizwan and Babar will be the backbone this time. Rizwan is a perfect fit for test matches while for ODI's and T20 I feel sarfaraz is still a better option if he is utilised correctly.

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Furqan

Jul 28, 2020 03:08pm

Why faheem ashraf and usman shinwari? Rest of the squad look ok but these two shouldn't be in the team

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Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad

Jul 28, 2020 03:56pm

Based on merit and merit only, PCB selection committee must provide the long awaited and fully deserved opportunity to Fawad Alam to represent the greenshirts squad during the upcoming three match test series against England in England.

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M. Saeed

Jul 28, 2020 04:05pm

@Sab Se Pehle Pakistan, at least he has found himself in England.

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S Abbas

Jul 28, 2020 04:31pm

He won't perform as he hasn't so far against our own bowlers. He won't make it to the playing XI. I have said before and I'll say again, they have taken him to put final nail in his career. Why take him now when you didn't give him a chance at his prime ? Pathetic really..

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Younus

Jul 28, 2020 05:03pm

@Sab Se Pehle Pakistan, I agree with you!

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Ash from the West

Jul 28, 2020 05:06pm

8 fast bowlers in a team of 20 and just 4 specialist batsmen !! Jackpot for Usman Shinwari for getting selected despite of being very ordinary bowler.

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Ash from the West

Jul 28, 2020 05:11pm

3 openers 4 middle-order batsmen 2 wicketkeepers 3 spinners 8 fast bowlers Pls enlighten me how come this is a balanced team selection!! This team is all set to get 3-0 thrashing by England.

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mbawmba

Jul 28, 2020 06:05pm

nobody gets more than what he deserves.

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Saleem

Jul 28, 2020 09:44pm

@S Abbas, No one in Pakistan, including Inzamam, Yunus, Yusuf, Misbah or even Miandad has performed better than Fawad Alam against Pakistani bowlers in domestic cricket ... and also abroad, he performed better than any Pakistani batsmen as he is the first to get 100 playing away in test match. But being from Pakistan, he got dropped from test cricket after only 3 matches in 2009, when his test average was over 40, a rarety in 2009. Less than 10 Pakistani players (including those who played few matches) had average over 40 at the time. Even in ODI, Fawad average of over 40 and SR over 74 was higher than most Pakistani batsmen of his time ... including those who regularly played in team (a team that I do not even think is Pakistani team, but it is PCB favoured players team).

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Sarfaraz Ahmed

Jul 28, 2020 09:53pm

I would have liked to see Hasnain and Haider Ali in the squad instead of Shinwari and Imran or Wahab. But Atleast they are still in England and could be called if others fail or are injured. With Rizwan’s batting form in practice games they will go with Shadab in the final eleven for the first test. No room for Fawad. He is back up for any injury or loss of form. May get a chance in the third test if at all.

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Shahid

Jul 28, 2020 11:47pm

Fawad deserves a chance.Include him actually in the playing aquad.

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Desi

Jul 28, 2020 11:56pm

Just by looking at the selection you can see both batting and bowling are very weak. There is no way England will be dismissed twice in a test match with this bowling attack. Batsmen don't have the temperament to stay at the crease for long periods except Azhar Ali. If they score 200 plus is every inning, that will be an achievement. Pakistan will be white washed in tests and ODIs, might win the T20s.

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Mike

Jul 29, 2020 09:22am

@Sab Se Pehle Pakistan, Thank you! we all know that.

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