Zafar Gohar

Akshay Saraswat ∙ 23 Dec 2020

Shadab Khan ruled out of first Test against New Zealand

Pakistan's woes ahead of the first Test against New Zealand in the upcoming two-match Test series, begining on Boxing Day at Mount Maunganui, continue to grow. After the unavailability of their premier batsman and captain Babar Azam, as well as that of opener Imam-ul-Haq, now leg-spinner Shadab Khan has also been ruled out of the opening Test. In his absence, Zafar Gohar, a left-arm spinner has been called up as his replacement. Pakistan have four fast bowlers and two spinners in their squad for the first Test. As a result, while Babar's absence is bound to hurt the team greatly, that of Imam and Shadab is less certain to have an impact. Yasir Shah is bound to be a part of the starting XI. Hence, Shadab was unlikely to get into the team. However, the batting abilities of the young leggie might have given the team the temptation of picking him as an all-rounder. So far, Shadab has played six Tests but has only managed 14 wickets, at an average and strike-rate of 36.64 and 68.1 respectively. The modest stats of the 22-year old are another reason why he was never a certainty in the final XI. Gohar has played 39 first-class matches in which he has picked up 144 wickets at an average of 28.56 and strike rate of 60. His international career consists of just one ODI. Despite being selected for the Test squad, it would, in all probability, take an unforeseen sequence of events for him to make his Test debut.