LAHORE: The initial 20-member squad of Pakistan cricket team for the two-Test matches series will be announced by the new chief selector Mohammad Wasim in Karachi on Friday.

Wasim had a meeting with the coaches of the senior and junior teams including head coach Misbah-ul-Haq, bowling coach Waqar Younis and junior team coach Ijaz Ahmed here on Wednesday, a press release issued by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said.

Wasim replaced Misbah as chief selector who decided to step down from his dual role to be confined to being the head coach only after the national team could not earn any notable victories. His last assignment as chief selector was to announce the squad for the series against New Zealand, which Pakistan lost in one-sided contests.

Wasim in his statement said that of the 20 probables, final 16-member team will be announced after completing the quarantine in Karachi. He said he had already completed the consultation process with members of the selection committee, who are also the coaches of the six provincial teams. He said the performances of the players in the recent series against New Zealand and in the just-ended domestic first-class season were reviewed and the final squad would be announced after having a consultation meeting with the head coach and captain Babar Azam.

Pakistan will play the first Test against South Africa in Karachi from Jan 26 and the second in Rawalpindi from Feb 4. Later the two teams will play three T20I matches series from Feb 11 to 14 in Lahore.The South Africans are touring Pakistan after a long period of more than 13 years.

Published in Dawn, January 14th, 2021