The fringe and aspiring bunch will look to own the elevated Duleep Trophy stage as the red-ball competition returns to its traditional zonal format and marks the start of India's domestic cricket season.
Javed Miandad feels Sarfaraz Ahmed was better suited to lead the Test team in Australia
Sarfaraz had told head coach and chief selector, Misbah-ul-Haq, before the match that he didn't wish to play.
Karun Nair stroked a magnificent century to power India A to 409/3 on Day 1 of the four-day unofficial Test against England Lions.
Pakistan have made four changes to the side for the second Test against England after resting senior cricketers including former captain Babar Azam from the rest of the series.
Sarfaraz recalled how the side regrouped under the guidance of senior players like Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez, something he feels that the present Pakistan side will need too.
Pakistan replaced veteran stumper Sarfaraz Ahmed with Mohammad Rizwan for the second match of the three-Test series.
Pakistan have dropped plans to conduct "major surgery" on the national team as it included senior players Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Shaheen Shah Afridi in the Test squad for the two-match series against Bangladesh.
Earlier, Mukesh bowled with venom, taking three wickets to help India crawl back into the contest as England Lions stumbled to 333 for five at lunch on Day 3.
Batsman Fawad Alam, who was also named in the 20-member squad along with two specialist spinners could make a comeback to Pakistan's Test team after 11 years.
"He (Sarfaraz) has shown himself to be a fine captain and yes he was struggling a bit for form but when a senior player is under pressure you have to encourage and back him, not dump him like this".
Sarfaraz Ahmed was among 11 players and officials who were denied clearance to board commercial flights to Abu Dhabi
Pakistan captain Shan Masood and head coach Jason Gillespie will no longer have a say in selection matters after the PCB selectors cut down their powers, according to a source.
Afridi while talking to the media in Karachi, said Sarfaraz is not the perfect choice for red ball format.
After Test call-up, Sarfaraz Khan hopes to join league of legends Richards, Kohli, Miandad
Former India wicketkeeper-batter Parthiv Patel feels there is "no harm" in trying Yash Dayal in place of either Jasprit Bumrah or Mohammed Siraj for the second Test against Bangladesh in Kanpur, beginning on Friday.
The delegations led by Baijayant Panda, Ravi Shankar Prasad (both Bharatiya Janata Party), Sanjay Kumar Jha (Janata Dal-United), Shrikant Shinde (Shiv Sena), Shashi Tharoor (Congress), Kanimozhi (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) and Supriya Sule (Nationalist Congress Party-Sharad Pawar) will visit a total of 32 countries and the EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.
Sarfaraz was removed as captain from all three formats last year in a sudden move by the Pakistan Cricket Board but made a comeback to the national squad for the tour of England due to the unusual circumstances arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fans can expect a wide open tournament in the absence of an overwhelming favourite in the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy.
Sarfaraz Khan's dominating performance against England's spinners in just his debut Test was no fluke.
K L Rahul would look to make the most of his first red-ball outing in months ahead of the upcoming Test series against England.
"They lacked imagination, lacked out of the box thinking."
Pakistan's new head coach and chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq said he is hopeful of working well with Sarfaraz to take the team forward.
Captain Sarfaraz Ahmed is adamant that his side will pick up next week where they brilliantly left off before heavy rain held up their charge.
Arthur suggested to the members that Shahdab Khan should replace Sarfaraz as captain in the limited-over formats while Babar Azam should be given the reins of the Test side.
As the Champions Trophy kicks off, some memorable moments from past tournaments.
The source, however, disputed Fakhar's tone and said one of the newly inducted selectors, former captain Azhar Ali had spoken to length with Babar on Saturday and explained to him the decision to rest him for the two Tests.
The fast bowler missed the 2011 and 2015 World Cups as a result of a five-year ban for match-fixing.
The 25-year-old Shubman Gill is a clear favourite to land the high-profile job as Indian embarks on a new World Test Championship cycle.
Imam-ul-Haq embarked on a new journey as he exchanged vows with girlfriend, Anmol Mehmood.
Pakistan senior batsman Azhar Ali, on Thursday stepped down as the One-day International captain after a meeting Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shaharyar Khan in Dubai.
Drawing flak after the loss to India, Pakistan skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed has warned his teammates of further backlash at home if they fail to lift their game in the remaining matches of the ongoing World Cup.
Sarfaraz is not the only Pakistani cricketer to have expressed his displeasure over the abuses. Earlier, Shoaib Malik and Mohammed Amir too had urged the fans not to indulge in personal attacks.
Sarfaraz, Imad Wasim dropped from Pakistan white-ball squad vs Australia.
'India needs to score big because they will have to defend those totals without Bumrah.'
Photos of the World Cup Pool B game between Pakistan and Ireland being played in Adelaide
Saim Ayub and Khurram Shahzad received their debut call-ups to Pakistan's squad for the three-match Test series against Australia.
New Zealand, who abandoned their white-ball tour of Pakistan last year due to security concerns, are looking to end a run of four straight test defeats with Southee as the new captain following the six-year tenure of Kane Williamson.
Former captain Wasim Akram led Pakistan's cricket community in lambasting the team for "going down without a fight" against arch-rivals India.
Wicket-keeper batsman Sarfraz Ahmed was, on Tuesday, named captain of Pakistan's Twenty20 team, replacing Shahid Afridi who resigned from the position after the side's dismal World Twenty20 campaign.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances