The Pakistan Cricket Board on Monday announced two teams for the England series bringing back Umar Akmal in place of Shoaib Mailk for the Test matches while Wahab Riaz has also been named among the 16 players.
The other team, the PCB XI, was named with Fawad Alam among the 12-member squad for the three-day opening match against England.
Announcing the team, chief selector Mohammad Ilyas said that Umar Akmal is being called in the team for his domestic performance while Malik was given rest and time to overcome from the bad patch.
It has been learnt that the PCB got clearance from the ICC to include Wahab for the Test matches as he is named among the 16-member team announced here at the Gaddafi Stadium.
There were rumours that Wahab is being linked with spot-fixing but now the PCB has got everything cleared about him. Pakistan will get the services of the left-handed pace bowler Wahab who has been cleared by the ICC. Also, the youngster, Junaid Khan makes a comeback in the squad but his inclusion in the team is subject to his fitness. Apart from Wahab and Umar, Mohammad Talha will make comeback while young Ayub Dogar would debut against the England. The team will be led by Misbah-ul-Haq and Pakistan will play their home series against England at Abu Dhabi and Dubai which will start from January 2012.
Pakistan will be playing three Test matches and the same numbers of ODIs and T20 games at UAE. He said that the ODI and T20 teams will be announced later. The first Test will start from January 17 at Dubai.
The selection committee also named the PCB XI which will be led by wicket-keeper Sarfraz Ahmed. The three-day match be played against England from January 11 to 13.
Test Team: Mohammad Hafeez, Taufiq Umar, Imran Farhat, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq (Captain), Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Umar Akmal, Adnan Akmal (Wicket Keeper), Saeed Ajmal, Abdul Rehman, Umar Gul, Mohammad Talha, Aizaz Cheema, Junaid Khan (subject to fitness), Wahab Riaz.
The PCB XI: Nasir Jamshaid, Afaq Rahim, Harris Sohail, Muhammad Ayub Dogar, Fawad Alam, Usman Salahuddin, Sarfraz Ahmad (Wicket Keeper/ Captain), Raza Hassan, Muhammad Khalil, Muhammad Talha, Ali Imran Pasha, Yasir Shah.
