LAHORE: Off-spinner Bilal Asif and all-rounder Faheem Ashraf were on Saturday recalled to Test cricket as chief selector-cum-head coach Misbah-ul-Haq announced a 16-member Pakistan squad for the one-off Test against Bangladesh being held in Rawalpindi from Feb 7 to 11.

Bilal, 34, replaces the 33-year-old left-arm orthodox spinner Kashif Bhatti who was named in the Test squad for the two-match home series against Sri Lanka held recently. The Nawabshah-born Kashif however was not played in any of the matches.

Right-arm pacer Faheem has returned to Test fold in place of left-arm fast bowler Usman Shinwari who made his Test debut in the first match against Sri Lanka last December. He was not picked for the second Test staged in Karachi due to lack of form.

Announcing the squad at a press conference in Lahore on Saturday, Misbah said the changes to the squad had been made with an eye on the expected strength of Bangladesh team.

The final Test of the two-match series against Bangladesh will be staged in Karachi from April 5.

Bilal made a brilliant Test debut in 2018 taking six wickets for 36 runs against Australia at Dubai. In the second Test held in Abu Dhabi, he claimed three wickets for 23 runs. Pakistan won that game by a huge margin of 373 runs.

Though Bilal was included in the following Test series against New Zealand held in the UAE in 2018, he could not maintain the impressive performance he gave against Australia. In 2019, the off-spinner almost disappeared from the national scene and now after spending more than one year in wilderness he has been recalled to the Test duty.

The Sialkot-born Bilal has so far claimed 16 wickets at an average of 26.50 in five Test matches.

Faheem has also been recalled after one-year absence. He played his last Test against South Africa at Johannesburg in January last year. He has featured four Tests taking 11 wickets at 26.09. The Kasur-born cricketer has also made 138 runs at 23.00 with the help of one half-century.

Answering a question about Bilal who had started off well in his short Test career but was ignored in 2019, Misbah said no player was overlooked.

“All are on our radar. Bilal has been recalled because we anticipate that Bangladesh would have some good left-handed batsmen [in the Test series] for which an off-spinner was needed,” Misbah stated.

“Kashif is also in the loop. No one should be disappointed as chances would be given in future to [good] performers.”

Bilal, Misbah added, also excelled in the last Quaid-i-Azam Trophy, taking 43 wickets in nine matches. “Faheem, who was preferred over Shinwari, is an all-rounder and his six-wicket haul in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy final, showed he had regained form and fitness.”

To a question, Misbah said Pakistan would forget their victory in three-match T20 International series against Bangladesh when the Test teams of the two countries face off in Rawalpindi.

“Our victory [against Bangladesh] in the T20 series is a thing of the past. I don’t take any team lightly, we have to play with full potential in the Test series too,” the former Pakistan skipper remarked.

Responding to a question, Misbah said though he had some reservations over the conditions of the local pitches, efforts were being made by the PCB to bring considerable improvement. “Hopefully in next season better pitches would be available.”

He said it was a good news that Pakistan ended last year with a victory in the Test series against Sri Lanka and started the year 2020 with the T20 series triumph against Bangladesh.

“We are aiming to collect maximum points from the two upcoming ICC World Test Championship matches against Bangladesh so that when we take the field for the Lord’s Test against England on July 30, we are in contention for a top-two finish by the end of 2020-21 season. This is what our aspiration is and that’s what we are aiming and striving for,” Misbah said.

On Feb 3, the Pakistan squad leaves for Rawalpindi where it will fine-tune its preparations from Feb 4.

Squad: Azhar Ali (captain), Abid Ali, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Bilal Asif, Faheem Ashraf, Fawad Alam, Haris Sohail, Imam-ul-Haq, Imran Khan Sr, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood, Yasir Shah.

Published in Dawn, February 2nd, 2020