RAWALPINDI: All-rounder Aamer Jamal has missed out on a place in Pakistan’s playing XI for the first fixture of the two-match Test series against Bangladesh, which is set to be played from Wednesday.

Aamer, who impressed in his Test debut series against Australia during the national side’s tour Down Under in December-January, was not only ruled out from the first game on Monday, but also dropped from the Pakistan squad.

Initially included in the roster “subject to fitness clearance”, Aamer “has been advised to work on his fitness at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore” as he recovers from “a back injury which he sustained while playing county cricket this year,” the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said.

Aamer took 18 wickets in three Test against Australia and also demonstrated decent ability with the bat against an experienced bowling line-up of the hosts.

He has lost his place to pacer Mohammad Ali, who will play only his third Test after playeing his first two against England in 2022.

Ali, who has returned to national reckoning on the back of consistent performances over the course of the last two domestic seasons, will be a part of a Pakistan pace attack spearheaded by mainstays Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah.

The Pakistan fast bowling battery also includes right-armer Khurram Shahzad, who, too, showed a decent show in his debut against Australia before getting injured and returning after recovery.

Pakistan, led by Shan Masood, have decided to go with an all-pace attack and hence not included a specialist spinner for the first Test, with the playing surface at the Pindi Cricket Stadium here set to be a fast-bowling paradise.

Shan and the team management, led by head coach Jason Gillespie have also picked Saim Ayub over Mohammad Huraira to open with Abdullah Shafique.

Meanwhile, the regular likes of Babar Azam, Saud Shakil, Salman Ali Agha and Mohammad Rizwan will make up Pakistan’s middle order.

BD PUT FAITH IN PACERS

Bangladesh, in contrast to Pakistan, are carrying two specialist spinners in their squad in Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Taijul Islam along with veteran spin-bowling all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan.

But the visitors’ head coach Chandika Hathurusingha said his team had reliable pacers too, showing confidence in the likes of Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam and Hasan Mahmud.

“Looking at their selection, they haven’t picked many spinners,” Hathurusinga said of Pakistan’s selection strategy. “Recently, we’ve developed a lot of good fast bowlers in our ranks.

“We have decent fast bowlers if the conditions favor them. Anyway, we have two all-rounders who bowl spin and are world-class.”

The Bangladesh head coach believed merit called for the side to pick their top-performing spinner regardless of the conditions that were expected in Rawalpindi.

“We expected the Pakistan wickets to be different from those in Bangladesh,” he noted. “The spinners we picked were chosen on merit, not just because of the conditions.”

Hathurusingha did hope that there is a balance between bat and ball during the series.

“When we play at home, we encounter result-oriented pitches where sometimes 250 is a winning score,” he observed. “Obviously, when batters play on such pitches, they face challenges. I hope the pitches in Pakistan generally favor batting, which provides a good contest between bat and ball. We aim to show better results on these kinds of pitches.”

Published in Dawn, August 20th, 2024