Mohammad Hafeez, Shadab Khan omitted from conditioning camp squad for Sri Lanka series

Mohammad Hafeez has been ignored yet again by the national selectors for the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka in the UAE later this month. Hafeez was also dropped for the Independence Cup T20I series against the World XI. He has not been called for the short conditioning camp, starting from September 19 in Lahore, ahead of the upcoming Test series.

Instead, Ahmed Shahzad, Sami Aslam and Shaan Masood have been called for the preparation camp. Shahzad has not been named in the 16-man squad, though. Mohammad Hafeez last played Test cricket in August 2016 at Birmingham before injury and fitness issues sidelined him from the action. He was also banned for an illegal bowling action last year but was eventually cleared by the ICC.

It was earlier reported that Head Coach Mickey Arthur, the selectors and the team management were keen on giving opportunities to youngsters in place of Hafeez. There were talks regarding grooming youngsters after the recent retirements of experienced campaigners- Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq from Test cricket. Haris Sohail and Usman Salahuddin are included in the list to fill in the void created due to the retirements of stalwarts Misbah ul Haq and Younis Khan.

Interestingly, youngster Shadab Khan has been omitted from the squad as well. However, left arm-fast bowler Wahab Riaz has been recalled, while Mohammad Aamir, who missed the Independence Cup due to the birth of his child, is also available.

Three spinners including leggie Yasir Shah, who was awarded the best Test player of the year by the PCB this week, 31-year-old off-spinner Bilal Asif and rookie left-arm spinner Muhammad Asghar will also be joining the training camp.

Conditioning Camp Squad:

Azhar Ali, Shaan Masood, Ahmed Shehzad, Sami Aslam, Babar Azam, Asad Shafiq, Haris Sohail, Usman Salahuddin, Sarfraz Ahmed, Muhammad Rizwan, Yasir Shah, Muhammad Asghar, Bilal Asif, Wahab Riaz, Muhammad Aamir, Hassan Ali, Muhammad Abbas and Mir Hamza.