Pakistan Test Squad for Sri Lanka Series Announced: Babar Azam to Lead, Shan Masood & Rizwan Dropped, 3 Uncapped Batters Picked

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Saturday, 24 October 2026, announced an initial 14-member Test squad for the two-match home series against Sri Lanka, retaining Babar Azam as captain and handing maiden Test call-ups to three domestic batters — Mohammad Taha, Mohammad Suleman and Sameer Minhas. Former captain Shan Masood, wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan, Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique and Saim Ayub have all been left out, while Salman Ali Agha and left-arm spinner Ali Usman return after being sent home midway through the England tour in August. The first Test starts at Rawalpindi on 9 November, with the second at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium from 17 November.

Pakistan Test Squad vs Sri Lanka — Key Facts

Full Pakistan Test squad for Sri Lanka series

Babar Azam (captain), Abdullah Fazal, Ali Usman, Arafat Minhas, Azan Awais, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Ghazi Ghori (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Suleman, Mohammad Taha, Razaullah, Saad Baig (wicketkeeper), Salman Ali Agha, Sameer Minhas, Saud Shakeel.

The squad blends experience with a clear changing of the guard. Saud Shakeel and Salman Agha give Babar two senior batting lieutenants, while Abdullah Fazal, Arafat Minhas, Azan Awais, Razaullah and Saad Baig — all drafted in for the final Test at Edgbaston during the England tour — keep their places. The wicketkeeping duties are shared between Ghazi Ghori and Saad Baig, and Mohammad Abbas leads the seam options in the initial group, with two more fast bowlers to follow.

Babar stays captain — and Agha earns his way back

The headline decision is continuity at the top. Babar Azam, who took over the Test captaincy after the first Test of the England tour, continues to lead the side as Pakistan look to bounce back from a 3-0 series defeat in England. The selectors have backed him to rebuild the red-ball side at home, where Pakistan’s next World Test Championship points are on offer.

Salman Ali Agha’s return is the other big story. The 32-year-old was removed as Pakistan’s T20 captain and left out of this month’s T20 series against Sri Lanka, and was among the seven players released mid-series during the England tour. He forced his way back the old-fashioned way — with runs. His century against Sri Lanka in last Sunday’s ODI was the loudest possible answer, and the selectors have rewarded it with a Test recall. Left-arm spinner Ali Usman, also among those sent home from England, returns alongside him.

Three new faces — and the domestic numbers behind them

All three uncapped picks have earned their call-ups in the ongoing President’s Trophy Grade-I first-class tournament, which began in September — and the numbers are hard to argue with.

Mohammad Taha, 26, is the competition’s leading run-scorer: 730 runs in seven matches, including three centuries and a best of 225. A left-hander with a big-match temperament, he is the kind of domestic heavyweight the selectors have been criticised for overlooking in the past.

Mohammad Suleman sits fifth on the same run charts with 652 runs in seven matches, also with three hundreds. Like Taha, he has combined volume with consistency — exactly what a rebuilding Test middle order needs.

Sameer Minhas is the bolter. Playing his maiden first-class season after coming through Pakistan’s Under-19 setup, he has made 405 runs in seven matches. Picking a player this early in his red-ball career is a statement: the selectors are willing to back youth rather than recycle familiar names.

For fans who have followed Pakistan’s domestic circuit, this is the most encouraging part of the announcement. The pathway from first-class runs to a Test cap is working — at least this time.

Who is out — and why it matters

Shan Masood’s omission is the toughest call in the squad. The former captain scored a fighting 95 against England in the third Test last month, yet still finds himself out of the 14. It underlines how ruthless the reset has been: recent form alone is no longer enough when the selectors are rebuilding for a new World Test Championship cycle.

Mohammad Rizwan is also out. He was among the seven players sent home from England, and reports say he is currently under inquiry by Pakistan’s National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency over allegations of online betting and gambling and the leaking of dressing-room information — an inquiry that began after his phone was seized in London on the night the Lord’s Test ended. He has been allowed to play domestic cricket in the meantime, but his international future remains clouded.

Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique and Saim Ayub complete the list of batting casualties, while fast bowlers Aamer Jamal, Khurram Shahzad and Mohammad Ali, and spinner Sajid Khan, are also absent from the initial squad. None of that is final, however — the door stays open through the warm-up match.

What happens next: warm-up match, then two more bowlers

The selectors will add two fast bowlers from the PCB Patron’s XI to the Test squad after the three-day warm-up match against Sri Lanka, scheduled for 4–6 November at Islamabad Club. Wicketkeeper-batter Saad Baig will captain the Patron’s XI, which also includes six players from the Test squad: Abdullah Fazal, Ali Usman, Azan Awais, Mohammad Suleman, Mohammad Taha and Sameer Minhas.

That warm-up is effectively a trial for the final two bowling spots — and for the uncapped batters, a first taste of the touring side before the real thing starts in Rawalpindi. For Pakistan, the series is about more than two results: after the England whitewash, it is the first chance to show that the rebuild has teeth, at home, in front of their own crowds.

Pakistan’s immediate focus remains Sunday’s ODI against England in Lahore — a 4th ODI that could seal a place in the tri-series final — but the Test announcement sets the agenda for November. The red-ball reset is officially under way.

Pakistan vs Sri Lanka Test series — Schedule

Pakistan’s white-ball form offers encouragement: they have already beaten England by 87 runs in the ODI tri-series and Sri Lanka by 37 runs in the series opener, and the Test squad announcement keeps the momentum firmly on home soil.

Pakistan Test Squad vs Sri Lanka — FAQs

By Imran Javed | 24 October 2026