Following losses in two Tests in England, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) released seven players from the squad, including Mohammad Rizwan, Imam-ul-Haq , Salman Agha, Ali Usman, Aamer Jamal , Awais Zafar , and Khurram Shahzad . Pakistan cricket is in terrible turmoil, and it’s unprecedented even by their own standards. The five uncapped players added to the squad are Arafat Minhas , Mohammad Imran Jnr , Saad Baig , Mohammad Imran Randhawa, and Razaullah .
Pakistan have brought in five uncapped players along with Saim Ayub and Abdullah Fazal , who have a combined experience of just 10 matches.
The notice was issued on Monday, the same day the board announced its decision to send home seven players and two coaches ahead of the third Test at Edgbaston, according to Cricinfo. They were taken aback. As it was a day off for them, they were either outside or relaxing at the hotel. One player felt that he had been made a scapegoat and at first thought it was fake news. He has also decided to step down from his role as a batting consultant at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore.
At around 5 pm on Monday, the Pakistan team members started receiving messages from friends and relatives enquiring about what was going on.
A report in The Telegraph spoke to team insiders and claimed that to say the players were “shocked” would be an understatement. Earlier, former Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq offered his resignation from the Pakistan men’s national selection committee following the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) decision to make major changes to the Test squad and coaching staff during the ongoing tour of England, according to Cricinfo. The PCB is yet to accept Misbah’s resignation, according to the report.
