Pakistan add three uncapped players to Babar Azam's squad for the Rawalpindi Test

Pakistan have added four players, three of them uncapped, to the squad that begins a two-Test series against Sri Lanka in Rawalpindi on Monday

The Pakistan Cricket Board called up pace-bowling all-rounder Aamir Jamal, fast bowlers Ali Shabbir and Saqib Khan and batter Mohammad Tayyab Arif on Saturday, taking the group captained by Babar Azam to 16 players.

Top-order batter Abdullah Fazal and left-arm spinner Ali Usman were released from the 14-man squad named earlier, with Mohammad Ghazi Ghori and Saad Baig retained as the two wicketkeepers.

Both Tests count towards the ICC World Test Championship 2025-27 cycle, in which Pakistan occupy the bottom position and Sri Lanka are seventh.

Four changes on the eve of the series

Jamal returns after being among the players sent home from Pakistan's tour of England. He has played nine Tests, and took 7-32 and scored 55 in the President's Trophy Grade-I final.

He has carried that form into the new first-class season, making 74 and 23 and taking three wickets while captaining Lahore Whites in the opening round of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy Gold.

The retained group pairs Saud Shakeel and Salman Ali Agha with a cluster of near-beginners in Razaullah, Mohammad Taha, Sameer Minhas and Mohammad Suleman.

Razaullah made his debut against England at Edgbaston earlier this year, taking four wickets and striking a rapid 81 that contained nine sixes.

The additions come after a three-day practice match between a PCB Patron's XI and the tourists at the Islamabad Club from 4 to 6 November.

Three maiden call-ups out of the domestic season

Shabbir, a 19-year-old quick, has taken 22 wickets in eight first-class matches and picked up three more against Sri Lanka in the practice game.

Saqib arrives on the back of the heaviest workload of the three, with 47 wickets at 20.60 in nine Quaid-e-Azam Trophy matches last season for Karachi Blues, his best figures 7-34.

Tayyab, also 19, is the batting selection, having scored 727 runs at 66.09 in seven matches in his maiden season, with three centuries.

Abbas chasing a first five-for at home

Mohammad Abbas, at 36 the most experienced seamer in the squad with more than 110 Test wickets, has never taken a five-wicket haul in Pakistan. "I owe a big performance — a five-wicket haul — in Pakistan, so I will try to get my name on the board here as well," he said.

"I thank Allah that I am in form and will try to continue it," Abbas added, having taken 5-57 at Lord's earlier this year.

He framed the squad's shape as a deliberate one. "The cricket board and management have decided that youngsters should be given a chance," he said. "It is a big opportunity for them to show their skills and secure their place for the future."

Sri Lanka arrive under Kusal Mendis

Sri Lanka named a 15-man squad in October led by Kusal Mendis, with Dinesh Chandimal, Dhananjaya de Silva, Kamindu Mendis and left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya among the senior names.

Sri Lanka Cricket said opener Pathum Nissanka would travel only if he were declared medically fit, leaving the top order unsettled going into the first Test.

The seam attack is built around Asitha Fernando, Lahiru Kumara, Dilshan Madushanka and Eshan Malinga, while Anjala Bandara received a maiden Test call-up.

A home result Pakistan have not managed since 2019-20

Pakistan have won 23 of their 59 previous Tests against Sri Lanka, losing 17, with 19 drawn.

Their last home series win over the islanders was 1-0 in 2019-20, and a squad this short of caps is being asked to repeat it.

Play in the first Test begins at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Monday, with the second to follow at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore from 17 to 21 November.