CAPE TOWN, Feb 13: Injured Pakistan seamer Junaid Khan has been ruled out of the second cricket Test against South Africa at Newlands starting here on Thursday.

Coach Dav Whatmore said the tourists were weighing up a replacement for the 24-year-old, who has failed to recover from a thigh injury sustained before Pakistan’s practice match against the Emerging Cape Cobras.

“Junaid is definitely out of the second Test but we hope to have him fit again for [the final Test in] Centurion,”

Whatmore told a news conference on Wednesday.

Lanky seamer Mohammad Irfan or left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman are the front-runners to replace Junaid in the line-up, with Whatmore saying the decision would be made once they had assessed the wicket on Thursday.

Whatmore also hinted that both might get to play, with the place of first-Test debutant Rahat Ali under threat after he proved ineffective against the South African batsmen in the opening Test at the Wanderers, which the home team won by 211 runs.

If Irfan does feature, he would be making his Test debut at the age of 30. Whatmore said his 7-40 in the practice match had suggested he was in the right form. “Irfan had a good practice match, he did as much as he can to push for a game. If he does play in the second test he would have earned it.”

Pakistan may opt to add a third spinner in Rehman, especially after the success that Mohammed Hafeez had at the Wanderers in picking up 4-16 in the first innings. He bowled well in tandem with front-line spinner Saeed Ajmal.

Whatmore confirmed that the batting line-up would remain the same from the first Test, with opener Nasir Jamshed able to train on Tuesday after he missed the practice match with an ankle injury.

After being bowled out for 49 on the way to a 211-run defeat in Johannesburg, Pakistan will be up against Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel on the ground where Australia were bowled out for 47 last season and New Zealand for 45 last month.

Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq identified combating the new ball as the top priority for his team following the first Test. The left-handed Imran Farhat, who played the most recent of his 39 Tests in August 2010, opened the batting in both innings against the Emerging Cape Cobras team which ended on Monday, but it is uncertain whether he will play in the Test.

Hafeez failed twice in the first Test and did not bat in the practice match, but there was a boost for the tourists when Younis Khan, their most experienced batsman, ended a run of poor form with an unbeaten 74 in the second innings of the practice match.

Younis’ success gives added credence to Misbah’s claim that Pakistan’s middle order was capable of posting competitive totals, after Misbah and Asad Shafiq both hit half-centuries in the second innings in Johannesburg.

South Africa, meanwhile, seem certain to retain the side that won in Johannesburg as they seek to clinch the three-match series on a ground where they have won 20 of 25 Tests since returning to international cricket in 1991.

They have been unbeaten at the ground in their most recent nine Tests, seven of which have been won.

South African captain Graeme Smith will captain his country for the 100th time after being feted for a century of captaincies in Johannesburg, with one of the matches having been for an ICC World XI — against Australia at Sydney in October 2005.

The match is being billed as a tribute to Mark Boucher, South Africa’s long-serving wicketkeeper, who was forced to retire after suffering an eye injury at the start of a tour of England last year.

Teams: SOUTH AFRICA (likely): Alviro Petersen, Graeme Smith (captain), Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, A.B. de Villiers, Faf du Plessis, Dean Elgar, Robin Peterson, Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel.

PAKISTAN (from): Mohammad Hafeez, Nasir Jamshed, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq (captain), Asad Shafiq, Sarfraz Ahmed, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Irfan, Abdur Rehman, Ehsan Adil, Imran Farhat, Faisal Iqbal, Tanvir Ahmed, Rahat Ali.

Umpires: Steve Davis and Bruce Oxenford (both Australia).

TV umpire: Billy Bowden (New Zealand).

Match referee: Jeff Crowe (New Zealand).—Agencies