LAHORE: Former captain Sarfaraz Ahmed has been named Pakistan men’s Test team head coach for next month’s two-Test tour of Bangladesh, as the national selectors announced a 16-player squad that will be captained by Shan Masood. The first Test will be played in Dhaka from May 8-12, while the second will be held in Sylhet from May 16-20.

However, the Pakistan Cricket Board was silent on the tenure of the 38-year-old, who led Pakistan to the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2006 and ICC Champions Trophy 2017 titles. The red-ball head coach’s position has been vacant since Jason Gillespie’s departure in December 2024. Aqib Javed served as interim head coach for the series against South Africa and the West Indies, while Azhar Mahmood coached the side against South Africa.

The PCB’s failure to appoint a full-time head coach since December 2024 clearly reflects its priorities for the traditional format of the game.

Pakistan are scheduled to play four more ICC World Test Championship fixtures between June and November — away series against the West Indies and England, and home series against Sri Lanka and New Zealand.

Most recently, Sarfaraz had served as coach and mentor of the Pakistan U19 squads for the Asia Cup and the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup, as well as the truncated Pakistan Shaheens v England Lions series in the UAE.

Along with Sarfaraz, Asad Shafiq was named batting coach and Umar Gul bowling coach. Notably, both Sarfaraz and Asad are also members of the national selection committee that confirmed the squad, which will attend a camp in Karachi from April 27 to May 1. The side departs for Dhaka on May 2, though players featuring in the May 3 Pakistan Super League final in Lahore will join the squad on May 4.

Shan Masood will continue as captain of a side that includes four uncapped players — Abdullah Fazal, Amad Butt, Azan Awais and Muhammad Ghazi Ghori. Fast bowler Mohammad Abbas has been rewarded for his 61 wickets in 11 first-class matches with a recall. He played his 27th and last Test for Pakistan against South Africa in Cape Town in January 2025.

There was no place for Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Asif Afridi, Faisal Akram, Kamran Ghulam and Rohail Nazir, all of whom were part of the squad for the two-Test series against South Africa in Lahore and Rawalpindi last year. Of these, Asif Afridi played one match and took six wickets, while Abdullah Shafique scored 106 runs in two Tests.

The PCB provided no official explanation for the inclusions and exclusions, announcing the squad via a media release. Transparency and openness have been at their lowest ebb, with decisions announced but no official explanation or context provided — leading to speculation and misunderstanding.

Azan Awais and Abdullah Fazal were two of the eight players to score 1,000 or more runs in the 2025-26 domestic first-class season. Azan finished second with 1,251 runs from 18 matches, while Abdullah was sixth with 1,047 runs from 13 matches.

There was no place for Saad Baig, who topped both the batting and wicketkeeping charts, scoring 1,369 runs from 17 matches and accounting for 53 dismissals behind the wickets.

Ghazi Ghori not only replaced Rohail Nazir — who was never allowed to demonstrate his talent — but was also preferred over several promising and high-performing wicketkeeper-batters, including Saad Baig. In the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, Ghazi scored 83 runs and did not take a dismissal, while he was the second-highest scorer in the President’s Trophy with 531 runs and fifth in the wicketkeeping table with 21 dismissals.

On the back of this performance, Ghazi was selected as a second wicketkeeper for the three ODIs against Bangladesh in March but made his debut as a number three batter in the third ODI.

Amad Butt, 30, took 32 wickets and scored 206 runs in seven President’s Trophy matches, while scoring 91 runs and taking four wickets in three Quaid-e-Azam Trophy matches.

Pakistan Test squad: Shan Masood (captain), Abdullah Fazal, Amad Butt, Azan Awais, Babar Azam, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Muhammad Ghazi Ghori (wk), Noman Ali, Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Shah Afridi.

Player support personnel: Naveed Akram Cheema (manager), Sarfaraz Ahmed (head coach), Asad Shafiq (batting coach), Umar Gul (bowling coach), Abdul Saad (fielding coach), Cliffe Deacon (physiotherapist), Grant Luden (strength and conditioning coach), Usman Hashmi (analyst), Syed Naeem Ahmad (media manager), Lt. Col. (r) Usman Anwari (security manager), Dr Wajid Ali Rafai (team doctor) and Muhammad Ehsan (masseur).