Pakistan pick Mohammad Talha for TestsESPNcricinfo staff
December 26, 2013
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Pakistan have picked fast bowler Mohammad Talhafor the Tests against Sri Lanka more than four years after he played his only match, in March 2009. They have also recalled fast bowler Umar Gul, who is fit again, and allrounder Mohammad Hafeez, who who scored three hundreds in the first four ODIs against Sri Lanka in the UAE.The players missing from the squad that played the Tests against South Africa in the UAE were: the injured fast bowler Mohammad Irfan, batsman Umar Amin and spinner Zulfiqar Babar.
Talha’s debut was in the Lahore Test in 2009, which had to be abandoned after the bus transporting the Sri Lankan team was attacked by terrorists. He was part of the squad for the tour of Bangladesh in 2011-12 but did not play, and an injury ruled him out of that season’s series against England in the UAE. He recently took 11 wickets for Port Qasim Authority in the President’s Trophy.
Gul’s last Test for Pakistan was in South Africa in February this year, after which he was sidelined by injury until his recall to the ODI squad ahead of the third match of the ongoing series against Sri Lanka.
Hafeez had been dropped for the Tests against South Africa in the UAE because he had scored 102 runs in 10 innings this year, struggling primarily against Dale Steyn. His return to this squad was largely due to his match-winning performances with the bat in the ODIs against Sri Lanka.
Test squad: Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Hafeez, Ahmed Shehzad, Khurram Manzoor, Shan Masood, Azhar Ali, Asaf Shafiq, Younis Khan, Adnan Akmal, Junaid Khan, Saeed Ajmal, Abdur Rehman, Umar Gul, Rahat ali, Mohammad Talha.