{"id":16530,"date":"2025-09-30T10:27:56","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T10:27:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/30\/babar-azam-mohammad-rizwan-return-to-action-as-pakistan-reveals-squad-for-sa-tests-cricket-news\/"},"modified":"2025-09-30T10:27:56","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T10:27:56","slug":"babar-azam-mohammad-rizwan-return-to-action-as-pakistan-reveals-squad-for-sa-tests-cricket-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/30\/babar-azam-mohammad-rizwan-return-to-action-as-pakistan-reveals-squad-for-sa-tests-cricket-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan Return To Action As Pakistan Reveals Squad For SA Tests | Cricket News"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

Last Updated:<\/span>

Pakistan announced an 18-man squad for the South Africa Test series, retaining Shan Masood as captain and including Shaheen Afridi, Babar Azam, and Mohammad Rizwan.<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\"font\"<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\"Mohammad<\/p>\n

Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam return to action. (Picture Credit: AFP)<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n

Pakistan have announced an 18-man squad for the two-match home Test series against South Africa. Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore will host the first game from October 12-16, while the second Test will be played at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium between October 20-24.<\/p>\n

The squad includes several curious decisions. Shan Masood has been retained as the captain, despite his poor record and the severe pressure he has been facing at home. Meanwhile, left-arm pacer Shaheen Afridi has been called back, having missed the latest Test series against the West Indies at the start of the year.<\/p>\n

Some fans would be delighted to see the return of former skippers Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, who have been phased out from the ODI and T20I sides, seeing little to no cricketing action in the last few weeks. Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq will make the top three alongside Masood while the middle-order will be supported by Babar, Rizwan, Kamran Ghulam, T20I skipper Salman Ali Agha and Saud Shakeel.<\/p>\n

Uncapped players Asif Afridi, Faisal Akram and Rohail Nazir have also been named in the squad. Left-arm spinners Afridi, 38, and Akram will join the spin group alongside Noman Ali, Sajid Khan, and Abrar Ahmed. Fast-bowler Naseem Shah, meanwhile, has not been able to find a space in the team.<\/p>\n

The red ball series will be followed by three T20Is and as many ODIs to be played from October 28 to November 8. The board will name their squad for it in \u2018due course\u2019.<\/p>\n

The PCB added that the players for the pre-series camp will undergo training under red-ball head coach Azhar Mahmood and Pakistan National Cricket Academy coaches from today till October 8. The players who featured in the recently concluded men\u2019s T20 Asia Cup in the UAE have returned home and will join the squad on October 4.<\/p>\n

Pakistan squad:<\/strong> Shan Masood (C), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Asif Afridi, Babar Azam, Faisal Akram, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Rizwan (Wicketkeeper), Noman Ali, Rohail Nazir (Wicketkeeper), Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel, and Shaheen Shah Afridi<\/p>\n

First Published:<\/span><\/p>\n
\n

September 30, 2025, 15:35 IST<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

News<\/a> cricket<\/a> Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan Return To Action As Pakistan Reveals Squad For SA Tests<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
\n
Disclaimer: Comments reflect users\u2019 views, not News18\u2019s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use<\/a> and Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Read More<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n


\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last Updated:September 30, 2025, 15:35 IST Pakistan announced an 18-man squad for the South Africa Test series, retaining Shan Masood as captain and including Shaheen Afridi, Babar Azam, and Mohammad Rizwan. Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam return to action. (Picture Credit: AFP) Pakistan have announced an 18-man squad for the two-match home Test series against…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5849,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cricket"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16530"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16530\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}