Pakistan opener Taufeeq Umar was replaced by opener Imran Farhat for the first Test against South Africa, which begins on February 1 in Johannesburg, after failing to recover from a leg injury. Taufeeq had to sit out of the practice match in East London that ended on Monday and is awaiting the results of an MRI. Pakistan’s team manager Naveed Akram Cheema confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that Taufeeq has not trained this week. Nasir Jamshed played in his place in the tour match and scored two half-centuries, which puts him in line to make his Test debut on Friday. Taufeeq has played 43 Tests since making his debut in 2001 and scored 2943 runs at an average of 38.72. He’s been part of the XI in Pakistan’s previous 18 Tests, since they played South Africa in the UAE in November 2010. During this period, he scored three centuries and five half-centuries.
