Hafeez gets late call-up for Australia Tests
KARACHI: Pakistan’s national selection committee on Monday recalled former opener Mohammad Hafeez for the two-match Test series against Australia to reinforce its batting following a failed Asia Cup campaign.
He was not part of the original 17-member squad announced last week, but after Pakistan suffered losses at the hands of arch-rival India and Bangladesh in the Asia Cup the squad reached out to Hafeez.
Pakistan failed to qualify for the final in the tournament, which India won after beating Bangladesh by three wickets in Dubai on Friday.
Pakistan had previously nursed high hopes for Shan Masood in the ongoing four-day match for Pakistan ‘A’ against Australia in Dubai but he fell for just 14, forcing the selectors to include Hafeez.
“The national selection committee and the team management has decided to include Hafeez for the two Tests against Australia,” said the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in a statement. The first Test against the Australians starts in Dubai on Sunday with the second outing scheduled to begin on Oct. 16.
Hafeez played the last of his 50 Tests against England in Birmingham in August 2016.
Last week he scored a double hundred in a domestic first-class match, catching the eye of selectors.
RENSHAW DOUBTFUL
Australia opener Matt Renshaw is a doubt for the series-opening Test against Pakistan after suffering a head injury in a tour match in Dubai.
Renshaw, who has a history of concussions, exited the match against a Pakistan ‘A’ side after being hit by a pull shot from batsman Abid Ali when fielding at short leg on Sunday.
Renshaw was wearing a helmet when he was struck in the side of the head. He pulled it off immediately and sat with his head in his hands before being examined by medical staff.
He came off the ground for further checks and was replaced in the lineup by Marnus Labuschagne.
Opening batsman Aaron Finch said Renshaw was in good spirits, but the selectors are likely to be cautious about playing the Yorkshire-born 22-year-old in the first test starting on Sunday.
Renshaw suffered concussion in a warm-up mishap before a Sheffield Shield match for Queensland in March and was subbed out of the game.
He was also withdrawn from a 2017 Test against Pakistan in Sydney having been hit while fielding just days after being struck by a bouncer when batting.
“He’s okay,” Finch told reporters. “It was a pretty heavy knock to the head there.
“He’s been with the medical staff all afternoon but he seems in really good spirits. He’s confident that his headaches are subsiding pretty quickly.”