Left-handed opening batter Saim Ayub acquired his maiden call-up for the Test facet on Monday as the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) introduced an 18-member squad for the upcoming tour of Australia.

Saim’s inclusion into the purple-ball squad comes after the teenager put collectively a collection of spectacular performances within the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 2023-24 the place he scored 553 runs in 4 matches for Karachi Whites and had three centuries to his title, together with a match-successful double-century in opposition to Faisalabad within the last.

Pakistan will play three exams in Australia scheduled from 14 December 2023 to 7 January 2024.

“Shan Masood will probably be main the facet in his first task as Test captain,” a PCB press launch stated.

Fast bowler Khurram Shehzad additionally acquired his maiden Test call-up after he turned the best wicket-taker of Quaid-e-Azam Trophy 2023-24 with 36 wickets in eight matches at a mean of 20.31

Meanwhile, Faheem Ashraf returns to the Test facet for the primary time since 2022, whereas left-arm pacer Mir Hamza and Mohammad Wasim Jr additionally make their comebacks.

The presser quoted the newly appointed chief selector Wahab Riaz as saying: “The squad has been assembled preserving in thoughts the difficult Australian circumstances.”

“We have saved the pitches in thoughts and added extra tempo bowling assets to the staff to make sure that the administration will be versatile with the staff mixtures in all three Test matches,” Wahab stated.

“Saim Ayub has been added to the squad after the extraordinary home season he has had this yr. He has impressed with the bat throughout the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and Pakistan Cup, pushing the case for his choice. His inclusion will strengthen our strong batting line-up,” Wahab stated whereas talking about Saim’s inclusion within the squad.

“Pakistan has began off the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25 rather well, after their success in Sri Lanka earlier this yr,” he stated.

“We hope that the staff can carry this momentum forward in Australia as nicely. We have tried to make sure that the staff has all related assets to search out success in Australia.”

Pakistan squad: Shan Masood (captain), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Shah Afridi